Prepared for the Office of Public Affairs (OPA)
U.S. Department of Homeland Security

Editorial Note: The DHS Daily Briefing is a collection of news articles related to Department’s mission. The inclusion of particular stories is not intended to reflect their importance, nor is it intended to endorse the political viewpoints or affiliations included in news coverage.

The AP [3/31/2025 6:27 PM, Rebecca Santana and Marcos Aleman] reports the Trump administration said Monday that it has deported 17 more "violent criminals" from the Tren de Aragua and MS-13 gangs to El Salvador, as it doubles down on a policy of removing people from the U.S. to countries other than their own despite criticism over lack of transparency and human rights issues. The State Department said the immigrants were removed Sunday night. The statement said murderers and rapists were among them but didn’t give details of the nationalities or alleged crimes of those removed. The office of El Salvador President Nayib Bukele, however, said Salvadorans and Venezuelans were among the prisoners. The men were flown to El Salvador by the U.S. military, the State Department said. As seen in video from the Salvadoran government, they were transported by bus to El Salvador’s maximum security prison, changed into the prison’s standard white T-shirts and shorts and had their heads shaven. The State Department, the Department of Homeland Security and the Department of Defense, which handled the removals Sunday, did not give detailed information about who was on the flight, their alleged crimes or under what legal authority they were removed from the country. A federal judge on Friday temporarily blocked the Trump administration from deporting people to third countries without first being allowed to argue that it would jeopardize their safety. On Sunday, the Trump administration asked the court to reverse itself and gave guidance that Homeland Security uses to determine whether someone can be removed to a third country. The Hill [3/31/2025 3:43 PM, Rebecca Beitsch, 12829K] reports that according to a White House official, the deportations were carried out under immigration authorities, not the Alien Enemies Act. The New York Times [3/31/2025 5:58 PM, Devlin Barrett, Karoun Demirjian and Annie Correal, 145325K] reports that administration officials said all 17 men, whom they described as gang members, had been deported under regular U.S. immigration law and had final orders of removal. But the administration described the action in similar military terms as the earlier transfers, with Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Joe Kasper, the Pentagon’s chief of staff, both calling the deportations “counterterrorism” operations. Mr. Rubio said in a statement on Monday the U.S. military had transported 17 “violent criminals,” including “murderers and rapists” with gang affiliations, to El Salvador. Mr. Kasper, the Pentagon’s chief of staff, said the deportations were “a successful counterterrorism mission” carried out by the U.S. military in partnership with El Salvador. El Salvador’s president, Nayib Bukele, said in a social media post that the two countries had conducted a “joint military operation” and claimed that all the migrants “are confirmed murderers and high-profile offenders.” The Washington Post [3/31/2025 7:29 PM, Arelis R. Hernández and Natalie Allison, 31735K] reports that those sent to El Salvador on Sunday had been either convicted of or had pending charges ranging from drug possession and theft to child sex abuse and murder, the White House official said. "Once again, we extend our gratitude to President [Nayib] Bukele and the government of El Salvador for their unparalleled partnership in making our countries safe against transnational crime and terrorism," Rubio said. President Donald Trump’s administration faces mounting scrutiny over its decision to send migrants to El Salvador, where immigrant advocates say detainees have no access to either the U.S. or Salvadoran justice system and risk being tortured and jailed indefinitely. On Friday, another federal judge questioned the administration’s authority to send migrants to a country where they are not citizens. U.S. District Judge Brian E. Murphy issued a temporary emergency order blocking the Trump administration from sending anyone with a final deportation order to a third country without first giving them a "meaningful opportunity" to seek humanitarian protection in the U.S. A White House official said the administration had complied with the ruling, but did not offer any details on how it had done so. The Department of Homeland Security and Immigration and Customs Enforcement did not immediately respond to additional questions regarding the transfer.

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Reuters [3/31/2025 6:35 PM, Ted Hesson and Susan Heavey, 24727K]
Reuters [3/31/2025 2:01 PM, Staff, 41523K]
FOX News [3/31/2025 11:56 AM, Stephen Sorace and Bill Melugin, 46189K]
PBS [3/31/2025 6:45 PM, William Brangham, 10355K] Video: HERE
USA Today [3/31/2025 7:28 PM, Bart Jansen and Francesca Chambers, 75858K]

FOX News [3/31/2025 8:59 PM, Ashley Carnahan, 46189K] reports Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary Kristi Noem said she’s confident the individuals being sent to a mega prison in El Salvador are where they’re supposed to be, despite concerns from legal groups that some people have been misidentified and deported without due process. Noem traveled to Tecoluca, El Salvador, last week to tour the Terrorist Confinement Center, commonly referred to as CECOT. The Trump administration has flown criminal migrants, many of whom are alleged Venezuelan gang members, to CECOT in recent weeks as it works to mass deport those who illegally entered the country under former President Biden. "I trust our intelligence agencies and the intelligence individuals that are within the Department of Homeland Security, that the individuals who are there are members and a part of this organization and have worked with them," she said Monday in an interview on "Special Report," referring to the foreign terrorist organizations Tren de Aragua (TdA) and MS-13. "And while we were there at that prison, we not only talked about how to identify these members of these terrorist organizations, but what they did, [the] actions they took, the case files we built on them — and how we verified that those individuals should be there in that prison.” The White House is embroiled in a legal battle over its ability to use the 1798 wartime Alien Enemies Act to deport suspected TdA members after U.S. District Judge James Boasberg issued a temporary restraining order (TRO) in mid-March, pausing all flights to El Salvador. The Trump administration last week asked the Supreme Court to overturn Boasberg’s TRO and allow it to continue deporting suspected gang members. [Editorial note: consult video at source link]

The Washington Post [3/31/2025 9:59 PM, Sabrina Rodriguez and Maria Sacchetti, 31735K] reports a federal judge temporarily blocked the Trump administration Monday from ending humanitarian protections for hundreds of thousands of Venezuelans who have sought refuge in the United States, days before they were set to lose their work permits and shield against deportation. The order prevents the Department of Homeland Security from allowing temporary protected status to expire on April 7 for approximately 350,000 Venezuelans and gives recipients time to proceed with a legal challenge. The suit, filed in U.S. District Court in the Northern District of California, centers on Homeland Security Secretary Kristi L. Noem’s decision to rescind temporary protected status for Venezuelans shortly after being confirmed, and days after her predecessor, Alejandro Mayorkas, extended protections for as many as 600,000 Venezuelans through October 2026. The Biden administration cited Venezuela’s extreme poverty and economic and political crises under Nicolás Maduro’s autocratic rule in extending the protection. Noem, in announcing her decision, wrote that conditions in Venezuela “no longer” met the criteria for its citizens to qualify for temporary protected status. U.S. District Judge Edward M. Chen wrote that Noem’s swift decision to terminate temporary protected status and mischaracterization of Venezuelans as criminals was unlawful and “smacks of racism.” In a strongly worded 78-page ruling, the judge granted the plaintiffs’ motion to postpone Noem’s actions. He said her rationale for ending protections for people from the South American country is “entirely lacking in evidentiary support.” “It is evident that the Secretary made sweeping negative generalizations about Venezuelan TPS beneficiaries,” he wrote, listing several examples in which Noem repeated President Donald Trump’s false claims that most were criminals. CBS News [3/31/2025 7:44 PM, Camilo Montoya-Galvez, 51661K] reports Chen called Noem’s decision "unprecedented," noting that the U.S. government had never before abruptly terminated a TPS program without a significant wind-down period. He said the move appeared to be "predicated on negative stereotypes" about Venezuelans, citing references in Noem’s order about alleged gang members from Venezuela entering the U.S. and Venezuelan migrants straining resources in American communities. The AP [3/31/2025 8:09 PM, Janie Har, 48304K] reports that Chen said in his ruling that the action by Noem "threatens to: inflict irreparable harm on hundreds of thousands of persons whose lives, families, and livelihoods will be severely disrupted, cost the United States billions in economic activity, and injure public health and safety in communities throughout the United States.” He said the government had failed to identify any "real countervailing harm in continuing TPS for Venezuelan beneficiaries" and said plaintiffs will likely succeed in showing that Noem’s actions "are unauthorized by law, arbitrary and capricious, and motivated by unconstitutional animus.” Chen, who was appointed to the bench by President Barack Obama, a Democrat, said his order in the lawsuit brought by the National TPS Alliance applies nationally. Noem had also announced the end of TPS for an estimated 250,000 additional Venezuelans in September. The judge gave the government one week to file notice of an appeal and the plaintiffs one week to file to pause for 500,000 Haitians whose TPS protections are set to expire in August. The New York Times [3/31/2025 6:59 PM, Jazmine Ulloa, 145325K] reports that the Temporary Protected Status program, passed by Congress and signed into law by President George H.W. Bush, allows migrants from nations that have experienced national disasters, armed conflicts or other extraordinary instability to live and work legally in the United States. It has been a target of President Trump during both his terms. Most recently, Trump administration officials have sought to end T.P.S. protections for many Venezuelan and Haitian immigrants, as Mr. Trump seeks to make good on a promise to deport millions of immigrants from the United States. In February, the administration revoked an 18-month extension of T.P.S. protection for Venezuelans that was granted under the Biden administration, and it terminated T.P.S. for Venezuelans who initially registered for the status in 2023. It later partly voided another 18-month extension that the Biden administration had granted to Haitian immigrants. The actions would have terminated the initiative for nearly 350,000 people in early April, and for hundreds of thousands more later this year.

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The Hill [3/31/2025 4:08 PM, Rebecca Beitsch, 12829K] reports a coalition of immigration advocates has sued the Trump administration over a policy that requires migrants to self-register with the government. The Trump administration’s interim rule points to a little-used provision of the Immigration and Nationality Act that requires anyone over the age of 14 who is unlawfully present in the country to register with authorities and alert the government of any change in address. The suit challenges the rule under the Administrative Procedures Act, arguing the government cannot issue such a far-reaching shift in policy without undergoing notice and comment rulemaking. The suit noted an interview from Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem, in which she said the platform would be used to help migrants "relocate" to their home country. Those in the U.S. on visas and other legal pathways are already fingerprinted and coordinate with immigration agencies. Expanding the process to those in the country unlawfully is not expected to drive voluntary compliance. The government is largely unaware of where the nation’s estimated more than 11 million people in the country without legal status live, and the threat of deportation is likely to make most migrants hesitant to register. But immigration advocates cited greater risks in seeking to get groups to register with the government. The Washington Examiner [3/31/2025 5:54 PM, Anna Giaritelli, 2296K] reports that the American Civil Liberties Union, American Immigration Council, American Immigration Lawyers Association, National Immigration Law Center, RFK Human Rights, and CASA sued the Department of Homeland Security in federal court in Washington, D.C., on Monday. They alleged in their lawsuit that a rule the DHS published in March would turn the U.S. into a "show me your papers country." DHS Secretary Kristi Noem announced earlier this month that U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services would set up a website for immigrants to register with the federal government as the first step in self-deporting. Noem’s announcement followed through on President Donald Trump’s Jan. 20 executive order, Protecting the American People Against Invasion, which directs the DHS to ensure all "aliens" comply with the government mandate outlined in the Immigration and Nationality Act. USA Today [3/31/2025 4:14 PM, Lauren Villagran, 75858K] reports that the rule, set to take effect on April 11, mandates non-citizens carry proof of registration or face fines and imprisonment, raising concerns about potential discrimination and harassment. Immigrant advocates on Monday sued the Trump administration over a rule requiring immigrants to register with the federal government or face criminal prosecution. The complaint filed in U.S. District Court in Washington, D.C., alleges the Department of Homeland Security and top administration leaders failed to follow procedure in announcing plans to enforce the rule, which takes effect April 11.

Univision [3/31/2025 7:55 PM, Patricia Clarembaux, 5325K] reports a court document from the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) reviewed by Univision News revealed Monday that Donald Trump’s administration could be using a ‘External Enemies Validation Guide’ to determine under a sum of points which Venezuelans can be listed as members of the Aragua Train gang and expelled under the Law on Foreign Enemies. The document - which was introduced on Friday as part of the ACLU’s lawsuit for the use of the Law to expel Venezuelans - begins with three boxes with questions that include whether the person is over 14, if he is not a permanent citizen or resident of the United States and whether he is Venezuelan. "If any of these three requirements are not met, the person previously named should not be removed under the Aliens Enemies Act," the guide begins. Otherwise, the person goes through an evaluation under six categories, each with a score. The document explains that foreigners who achieve eight or more points must be validated as a Train of Aragua and that the authorities must issue a "notification and order of arrest and deportation under the Law on Foreign Enemies." If, after the evaluation, they add less than eight points, they are told, they must consider the case with a supervisor of the Office of the Chief Legal Adviser (OPLA) before classifying the Venezuelan as a member of the band. If membership is not completed, deportation proceedings must also be initiated under the Immigration Act, they explain. Univision News consulted the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) on the use of this guide, but did not get answers until the close of this story. White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt admitted to reporters the use of the guide. He said Monday that the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) uses a long list of criteria to "ensure that these people qualify as foreign terrorists and for deportation." Telemundo [3/31/2025 5:11 PM, Marina E. Franco, 2454K] reports that the document was released in a legal motion by the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), which is suing the Republican administration over its expedited deportations. One of the document’s categories, called "symbolism," is divided into five sections that total 14 points and include considering whether a Venezuelan has a tattoo style that is supposedly associated with the gang, despite the FBI saying that tattoos and iconography are not enough to identify someone as a member of the Tren de Aragua (TdA). ABC News [3/31/2025 6:01 AM, Laura Romero and Armando Garcia, 34586K] reports that the checklist submitted by the ACLU is divided into six categories including "Criminal Conduct and Information," "Self-Admission" and "Judicial Outcomes and Official Documents," and assigns varying quantities of points to different types of evidence that can be used to score the migrants. Migrants who score eight points and higher are "validated as members of TdA," the document says. But the document also appears to leave a lot to the discretion of ICE officers conducting the review, stating that even migrants who only score six or seven points may still be considered members of the gang after the officer consults with a supervisor and the Office of the Principal Legal Advisor and "reviewing the totality of the facts, before making that determination.” The document indicates that individuals who score five points or less should not be validated as a member of TdA but encourages officials to initiate removal proceedings under other existing authorities.

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New York Times [3/31/2025 9:28 PM, Alan Feuer, 145325K] reports the Trump administration has granted itself the authority to summarily deport Venezuelan migrants accused of being members of a violent street gang on the basis of little more than whether they have tattoos or have worn clothing associated with the criminal organization, new court papers show. The papers suggest that the administration has set a low bar for seeking the removal of migrants whom officials have described as belonging to the street gang, Tren de Aragua. This month, the White House ordered the deportation of more than 100 people suspected of being members of the gang under a powerful wartime statute, the Alien Enemies Act, and have denied them any due process to challenge the allegations against them. In the court papers, submitted over the weekend, lawyers for the Venezuelan migrants produced a government document, titled “Alien Enemy Validation Guide,” that laid out a series of criteria administration officials are required to meet to designate the men as members of Tren de Aragua. The document established a scoring system for deciding whether the migrants were in fact members of the gang, which is often referred to as TdA, asserting that eight points were required for any individual to be identified as a member. According to the document, any migrant who admitted to being a member of the gang was assigned 10 points, meaning that they were automatically deemed to belong to the group and were subject to immediate deportation under the Alien Enemies Act. But the document also asserts that officials can assign four points to a migrant simply for having “tattoos denoting membership/loyalty to TDA” and another four points if law enforcement agents decide that the person in question “displays insignia, logos, notations, drawings, or dress known to indicate allegiance to TDA.” Moreover, the document says that officials can identify members of Tren de Aragua merely if they are “dressed in high-end urban street wear” — especially basketball jerseys from the Chicago Bulls or its former star player Michael Jordan. Lawyers for the Venezuelan migrants have repeatedly claimed that officials have used the existence of tattoos to falsely accuse several people of belonging to Tren de Aragua and deporting them to a notoriously brutal prison in El Salvador.

MeriTalk [3/31/2025 1:42 PM, Weslan Hansen, 45K] reports that federal government cybersecurity veteran Karen Evans has been nominated to serve as the Under Secretary for Management at the Department of Homeland Security (DHS). The nomination comes only a month after the announcement of her appointment as executive assistant director for cybersecurity at the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA). If confirmed by the Senate to the new role, Evans would oversee the department’s $60 billion budget, human resources, information technology (IT) maintenance, and lead efforts to secure Federal infrastructure. She would also bring a wealth of experience in the Federal government to the role after serving as the chief information officer at DHS during the Trump administration. Evans was also the assistant secretary for cybersecurity, energy security, and emergency response at the Department of Energy. "Karen Evans is a dedicated public servant, a policy expert, and a visionary leader in one of the most critical areas our nation faces – cybersecurity," said Sen. Shelley Moore Capito, R-W.Va., in a statement about Evan’s nomination.

Los Angeles Times [3/31/2025 6:00 AM, Rachel Uranga, 52868K] reports the children sat on wooden benches bouncing their legs, clasping their hands and anxiously looking around the brightly lit courtroom. "We are on the record," Immigration Judge Audra R. Behne said softly into the microphone on Tuesday. Their eyes peered up. A teenage girl in a sparkly shirt smiled at her boyfriend. A 14-year-old boy in a denim jacket sat next to his aunt, whose teenage daughter was texting beside her. Another teenage girl with a heart emblazoned on her sweatshirt leaned against her mom as they sat in the gallery. They are among the dozens of children whose deportation cases come before Behne at the West Los Angeles Immigration Court every month. Many are facing a new reality as the Trump administration stripped away legal funding for those who crossed the border without a parent or legal custodian. As they confront a complex legal system and a government that seeks to deport them, the children will find fewer pro bono lawyers available and face a growing probability of deportation. "These kids often have no idea what’s going on, and without a lawyer, they’re doomed," said Holly S. Cooper, who was part of the first federal pilot program to represent children in immigration court more than two decades ago. Children in deportation proceedings — some still infants — do not have the right to a court-appointed attorney, though the U.S. recognizes the right to a lawyer. Securing one can mean the difference between staying and removal to a country where they were persecuted, abused or abandoned by their parents. Most children who arrive in the courtroom don’t speak English, don’t know how to fill out forms or present a case as they go up against government lawyers. "I have been representing unaccompanied children for 27 years," said Cooper. "And people are always shocked to see what it looks like for children to navigate a labyrinthine legal system by themselves.” Itzel, whose uncle Johnnie doesn’t have the money to pay for an immigration lawyer, came to the United States two years ago illegally. The Trump administration said it will not renew contracts for legal services providers that represent about 26,000 children in the country illegally. A 16-year-old girl named Itzel, with a long ponytail and bright eyes, sat outside the courtroom doors last week watching her toddler cousin as she waited for the judge to call her case. She wore a Bell High School sweatshirt. She is part of a wave of unaccompanied children who reached an apex in fiscal year 2022. Itzel’s mom is a drug addict. Her father left when she was young. The cartel infiltrated her school in northern Mexico. She fled with relatives at 14 years old, after cousins were gruesomely killed at a party. The death was a chilling warning from the cartel, said Johnnie, an uncle who didn’t want to be identified because he feared for his life. When Itzel crossed the border, she was held in detention and placed in a shelter for two weeks before being released to her aunt and uncle. "It wasn’t that bad," she said. "They give you $10 a week to buy things.” Although advocates say Itzel may have legal remedies, she doesn’t have a lawyer to help her and can’t afford one. She finds the system confusing and thinks nobody in it wants to help her.

CBS News [3/31/2025 7:16 AM, Caitlin Yilek, Aaron Navarro, 51661K] reports Trump administration’s crackdown on students who participated in pro-Palestinian activities have raised questions about the First Amendment rights of visa and green card holders amid the shocking detentions of a number of students at Tufts, Columbia and other universities in recent weeks. Secretary of State Marco Rubio cited a provision in the Immigration and Nationality Act that authorizes the nation’s top diplomat to revoke the visas of foreign national students on the grounds that their presence or activities have "potentially serious adverse foreign policy consequences" for the U.S. The federal government is not required to lay out proof beyond that explanation, legal experts told CBS News, setting up a legal showdown over foreign nationals’ free speech rights in the U.S. "There’s a tension between everyone’s First Amendment rights to free speech and the immigration statute’s broad provisions giving the secretary of state broad latitude to declare someone deportable simply because he thinks that the student may have potentially serious adverse foreign policy consequences. And the courts will have to figure out where the appropriate line should be drawn," said Stephen Yale-Loehr, a retired immigration law professor at Cornell University. Rubio said Thursday the State Department has canceled more than 300 visas and that they’re "primarily" student visas. Several high-profile cases are related to students who led or participated in pro-Palestinian activities and activities and disruptive s protests, which the administration has equated to activity supporting Hamas, a U.S.-designated terrorist group. He also told reporters that if the administration is compelled to provide evidence in court, it will, but said "judges don’t issue student visas. There’s no right to a student visa.” "We gave you a visa to come and study and get a degree, not to become a social activist that tears up our university campuses. And if we’ve given you a visa, and then you decide to do that, we’re going to take it away," Rubio said at a news conference in Guyana.

CNN [3/31/2025 6:34 AM, Karina Tsui, 908K] reports nearly a dozen known students and faculty members at colleges across the country have been detained by federal agents amid the Trump administration’s crackdown on immigration, which on college campuses, has taken aim at pro-Palestinian student activists and Israel critics. Many of those detained have been granted the right to live in the US either as permanent residents or through temporary work or student visas. Their rights, however, have been put into question under new, sweeping immigration orders that some legal experts fear may be used liberally to clamp down on dissent. Speaking to reporters Thursday, Secretary of State Marco Rubio said that under his direction, more than 300 visas –– "primarily student visas, some visitor visas" –– have been revoked. Rubio did not specify how many visas belonged to people tied to the pro-Palestinian movement. "If they’re taking activities that are counter to our national interest, to our foreign policy, we’ll revoke the visa," Rubio said. When asked about freedom of speech concerns, Rubio said international students are "here to study.” "They’re here to go to class. They’re not here to lead activist movements that are disruptive and undermine our universities. I think it’s lunacy to continue to allow that.”

Axios [3/31/2025 1:01 PM, Russell Contreras, 13163K] reports that a Jewish organization working to combat antisemitism has unveiled an alternative to the Trump administration’s plan that cracks down on foreign students and free speech on college campuses. Why it matters: The blueprint by the Nexus Project could give colleges and universities another path to combat antisemitism while protecting Jewish students and diversity, equity, and inclusion programs amid funding threats. The big picture: The Trump administration has cast pro-Palestinian protesters as Hamas supporters and used anti-terror and immigration laws to quiet campus demonstrations. The arrests of Columbia graduate Mahmoud Khalil and Tufts University graduate student Rumeysa Ozturk are part of the administration’s push to quickly scoop up, detain and deport college students with pro-Palestinian views under the guise of fighting antisemitism. President Trump has also threatened to pull university funding over antisemitism allegations. Zoom in: Trump exploits "legitimate concerns of antisemitism by pursuing a political and ideological project," according to the alternative plan shared with Axios first and dubbed "Fighting Antisemitism, Protecting Democracy: A Strategy for the Trump Era."

FOX News [3/31/2025 4:44 PM, Alec Schemmel, 46189K] reports Elon Musk shared a chart during a get-out-the-vote rally in Wisconsin over the weekend, which he claimed showed millions of noncitizens received Social Security numbers during former President Joe Biden’s tenure. The chart showed a steady year-over-year increase under Biden, reaching more than 2 million in FY 2024, which ended on Sept. 30. FY23 saw roughly 1 million noncitizens issued Social Security numbers, as did FY25, which began in October and will end in September of this year. The eyebrow-raising numbers come amid Musk and DOGE’s ongoing probe into various federal programs and agencies, including the Social Security Administration (SSA).

FOX News [3/31/2025 10:57 AM, Jamie Joseph, 46189K] reports that a Yale University Law School associate research scholar was terminated after failing to disclose information about her alleged ties to Samidoun Network, a Canada-based group designated a terrorist organization by the U.S. State Department. Iranian-born Helyeh Doutaghi was fired Friday, three weeks after being put on administrative leave after allegations were made that she was part of the Samidoun Network, classified as "a sham charity" by the federal government for the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, a U.S-designated terrorist organization. "Over the last three weeks, Yale has repeatedly requested to meet with Ms. Doutaghi and her attorney to obtain clarifying information and resolve this matter," Yale spokesperson Alden Ferro said in a statement provided to Fox News Digital. "Unfortunately, she has refused to meet to provide any responses to critical questions, including whether she has ever engaged in prohibited activity with organizations or individuals that were placed on the Specially Designated Nationals and Blocked Persons list (‘SDN List’)." As such, the university terminated Doutaghi, effective immediately, over her "refusal to cooperate" with their investigation. The university, which saw its fair share of anti-Israel protests last year and a large-scale graduation walkout, noted her short-term employment was already set to expire in April.

Reuters [3/31/2025 11:10 PM, Kanishka Singh, 24727K] reports a Cornell University student who participated in pro-Palestinian protests and was asked to surrender by U.S. immigration officials said on Monday he was leaving the United States, citing fear of detention and threats to his personal safety. Momodou Taal, a doctoral candidate in Africana Studies and dual citizen of the UK and The Gambia, has participated in pro-Palestinian protests against Israel’s war in Gaza following an October 2023 Hamas attack. His attorneys said last month that he was asked to turn himself in and that his student visa was being revoked. President Donald Trump has pledged to deport foreign pro-Palestinian protesters and accused them of supporting Hamas, being antisemitic and posing foreign policy hurdles. Protesters, including some Jewish groups, say the Trump administration wrongly conflates their criticism of Israel and support for Palestinian rights with antisemitism and support for militant group Hamas. Last year, Taal was in a group of activists who disrupted a career fair on campus that featured weapons manufacturers and the university thereafter ordered him to study remotely. He previously posted online that "colonised peoples have the right to resist by any means necessary.” Taal filed a lawsuit in mid-March to block deportations of protesters, a bid that was denied by a judge last week. "Given what we have seen across the United States, I have lost faith that a favourable ruling from the courts would guarantee my personal safety and ability to express my beliefs," Taal said on X. Trump’s administration has attempted to crack down on pro-Palestinian voices. Rights advocates condemn the moves. Columbia University protester Mahmoud Khalil was arrested in early March and is legally challenging his detention. Trump, without evidence, accused Khalil of supporting Hamas. Khalil denies links to the militant group that Washington considers a "foreign terrorist organization.” Badar Khan Suri, an Indian studying at Georgetown University, was detained earlier in March. Suri’s lawyer denies he supported Hamas. A federal judge barred Suri’s deportation.

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Yahoo! News [3/31/2025 10:44 PM, Josh Marcus, 52868K]

FOX News [4/1/2025 4:00 AM, Sarah Rumpf-Whitten, 46189K] reports the long-awaited trial begins this week for the illegal immigrant accused of murdering 37-year-old Rachel Morin, a Maryland mother of five who was killed along a hiking trail. Jury selection was set to start Tuesday in the Harford Country Circuit Court in Bel Air, Maryland, before Judge Yolanda Curtin. Victor Antonio Martinez-Hernandez, 23, of El Salvador, is charged with the brutal rape and murder of Morin, whose body was discovered on the Ma & Pa Trail in Bel Air in August 2023. She was found bashed in the head and strangled to death. The crime shocked the community and highlighted the then-Biden administration’s failed border policies. Morin’s family attorney Randolph Rice, the managing partner of Rice Law in Baltimore, told Fox News Digital that jury selection would begin on Tuesday and is expected to take up to three days, with the entirety of the trial anticipated to last approximately two weeks. "The Morin family has long waited for this moment," Rice said. "This trial marks the beginning of the justice they’ve been seeking since the day Rachel was taken from them. They are prepared to face the difficult days ahead with strength and hope.” The Morin family plans to be in attendance throughout the proceedings. Morin, 37, was reported missing in August 2023 by her boyfriend, who said she never returned after going out for a run on the Ma & Pa Trail, a pedestrian trail in Bel Air, a quiet and typically safe town about 28 miles northeast of Baltimore, Aug. 5, 2023. Her body was found near the trail the next day. In February, police released new sketches of Martinez Hernandez. [Editorial note: consult video at source link]

CBS Austin [3/31/2025 10:25 AM, Jamel Valencia, 602K] reports that a man who was in the United States illegally was charged with the murder of a Georgia mother and grandmother who federal authorities said died in a "gruesome attack." Hector David Sagastume-Rivas was identified by Cobb County police as Camillia Williams’ suspected killer. Police found Williams’ body in a neighborhood in Marietta, Georgia on March 13. Days later, Sagastume-Rivas was taken into custody and charged with felony murder and aggravated assault in connection to the 52-year-old’s death. According to the U.S. Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem, Sagastume-Rivas was illegally in the U.S. She blamed the Biden Administration of for the woman’s death. "David Hector Rivas-Sagastume, an illegal alien released by the Biden administration, has been charged with killing Camilia Williams, a mother of five and a grandmother in a gruesome attack," Noem wrote on X. "This illegal alien should have never been in our country in the first place. President Trump and I are putting the safety of Americans FIRST." Sagastume-Rivas was reportedly indicted last week and is now facing new charges. An indictment for Sagastume-Rivas was unsealed on Friday. It alleges that the victim’s body was dumped in a bush. According to CNN, the court document revealed that Williams was placed in a chokehold until she lost consciousness. Sagastume-Rivas is accused of putting his full body weight on Williams’ neck, which killed her. Sagastume-Rivas was charged on Friday with malice murder, felony murder, aggravated assault, rape, aggravated sexual battery and necrophilia. [Editorial note: consult video at source link] FOX News [3/31/2025 3:27 PM, Peter Pinedo, Madison Scarpino, 46189K] reports Hector David Sagastume-Rivas, a 21-year-old Honduran illegal alien, was caught and released at the border by the Biden administration in March 2021 and has had an active deportation order since July 2023 after he ignored a deportation order. The Department of Homeland Security told Fox News that Sagastume-Rivas entered the United States illegally on March 17, 2021, and was arrested by the U.S. Border Patrol.

Yahoo! News [3/31/2025 8:47 AM, Frank Witsil, 52868K] reports that a blast so powerful that it ripped away bricks from a Detroit apartment building and injured a dozen people, including six children, is under investigation early Monday, as demolition crews try to stabilize the structure. At least two of those harmed were hospitalized in critical condition, fire officials said. It also triggered emergency, cellphone alerts throughout metro Detroit. Officials told the Free Press that everyone seemed to have been evacuated from the 12-unit westside Detroit structure based on thermal imaging from drones, but what’s left of the building will need to be demolished. The explosion went off at about 4 a.m. in the 13000 block of Littlefield Street on the city’s west side, according to fire officials and TV news crews reporting from the scene early Monday. Detroit Fire Commissioner Charles Simms told reporters in a news briefing that if not for the fast-acting rescue crews, the injuries — and damage — could have been far worse. Monday’s explosion also set off a Wireless Emergency Alerts system alarm, part of America’s emergency preparedness system, at about 6 a.m. The cell phone warnings are issued for dangerous weather, missing children and other disaster situations. Residents were able, with rescue escorts, to retrieve some of their belongings, and in addition to firefighters and police, homeland security officials were on hand to investigate the blast.

Dallas Morning News [3/31/2025 6:00 AM, Noah Lanard and Isabela Dias, 2778K] reports that, on Friday, March 14, Arturo Suárez Trejo called his wife, Nathali Sánchez, from an immigration detention center in Texas. Suárez, a 33-year-old native of Caracas, Venezuela, explained that his deportation flight had been delayed. He told his wife he would be home soon. Suárez did not want to go back to Venezuela. Still, there was at least a silver lining: In December, Sánchez had given birth to their daughter, Nahiara. Suárez would finally have a chance to meet the three-month-old baby girl he had only ever seen on screens. But, Sánchez told Mother Jones, she has not heard from Suárez since. Instead, last weekend, she found herself zooming in on a photo the government of El Salvador published of Venezuelan men the Trump administration had sent to President Nayib Bukele’s infamous Terrorism Confinement Center, or CECOT. "I realized that one of them was my husband," she said. "I recognized him by the tattoo [on his neck], by his ear, and by his chin. Even though I couldn’t see his face, I knew it was him." The photo Sánchez examined—and a highly produced propaganda video promoted by Secretary of State Marco Rubio and the White House—showed Venezuelans shackled in prison uniforms as they were pushed around by guards and had their heads shaved. The tattoo on Suárez’s neck is of a colibrí, a hummingbird. His wife said it is meant to symbolize "harmony and good energy." She said his other tattoos, like a palm tree on his hand—an homage to Suárez’s late mother’s use of a Venezuelan expression about God being greater than a coconut tree—were similarly innocuous. Nevertheless, they may be why Suárez has been effectively disappeared by the US government into a Salvadoran mega-prison. Mother Jones has spoken with friends, family members, and lawyers of ten men sent to El Salvador by the Trump administration based on allegations that they are members of the Venezuelan organized crime group Tren de Aragua. All of them say their relatives have tattoos and believe that is why their loved ones were targeted. But they vigorously reject the idea that their sons, brothers, and husbands have anything to do with Tren de Aragua, which the Trump administration recently labeled a foreign terrorist organization. The families have substantiated those assertions to Mother Jones, including — in many cases — by providing official documents attesting to their relatives’ lack of criminal histories in Venezuela. Such evidence might have persuaded US judges that the men were not part of any criminal organization had the Trump administration not deliberately deprived them of due process.

Dallas Morning News [3/31/2025 9:00 AM, Aaron Torres, 2778K] reports that Republicans in the Texas Legislature have filed scores of bills related to citizenship, immigration and border security — building on the signature issue of President Donald Trump’s second term. Ideas include establishing the Texas Department of Homeland Security, mandating proof of citizenship for people who are registering to vote, ending in-state tuition for undocumented migrants and requiring every local law enforcement officer to verify the immigration status of people who have been detained. Texas is at the center of the debate over immigration, and lawmakers will spend significant time in the second half of the legislative session debating proposals tied to the issue. Trump campaigned on launching the largest deportation operation in the country’s history. Republicans in the Legislature support Trump’s immigration pledges and are hoping to aid his agenda with many of the proposed bills. The whatever-it-takes attitude resulted in at least 65 immigration bills being filed in the House and Senate. Some are meant to help Trump’s mass deportation initiative, including a bill Patrick made a priority: requiring the largest sheriff’s departments in Texas to have signed agreements with Immigration and Customs Enforcement. Other measures, however, are looking to solidify the state’s role in immigration enforcement.

USA Today [3/31/2025 6:55 PM, Anthony Robledo, 75858K] reports the Republican Party of New Mexico is declaring a fire that burned an entryway at their Albuquerque headquarters Sunday an act of politically motivated arson. Albuquerque law enforcement and FBI officials recovered "incendiary materials" designed to cause fires at the scene, according to the Bureau of Alcohol Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives. An investigation into blaze is underway, but the agency has not confirmed the cause or whether arson was involved. However, in a Sunday news release, the state GOP called the fire a "deliberate act of arson" and a "horrific attack, fueled by hatred and intolerance" that joined a pattern of political violence across the country. "We are deeply relieved that no one was harmed in what could have been a tragic and deadly attack," Republican Party of New Mexico Chairwoman Amy Barela said in the news release. "Those who resort to violence to undermine our state and nation must be held accountable, and our state leaders must reinforce through decisive action that these cowardly attacks will not be tolerated.” Barela said the political party is working with the ATF, local law enforcement and federal. The political party said it found the phrase "ICE = KKK" spray painted outside the building, comparing the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement to the white supremist group the Ku Klux Klan. The Washington Examiner [3/31/2025 9:36 AM, Jenny Goldsberry, 2296K] reports that this comes after several weeks of arson in radical protests. Among the targets are Tesla dealerships and the office of Rep. Glenn Grothman (R-WI). Albuquerque, in particular, is a largely Democratic district. Two congressional districts share the city and are represented by two Democrats: Reps. Melanie Stansbury and Gabe Vasquez. ICE arrested 48 illegal immigrants in raids across Albuquerque, Santa Fe, and Roswell. Twenty of those detained had active criminal charges or convictions, which resulted in 21 receiving final removal orders. "These arrests exemplify the type of criminals living among us and highlight ICE’s commitment to our agency’s primary mission — protect public safety," ICE Enforcement and Removal Operations El Paso Field Office Director Mary De Anda-Ybarra said.

NPR [4/1/2025 4:15 AM, Jason DeRose, 29983K] reports some LA-area churches are taking in migrants. For church leaders, the biblical call to care for the stranger comes into direct conflict with the politics of immigration in the U.S. [Editorial note: consult audio at source link]

AP [3/31/2025 3:33 PM, Staff] reports the United States Treasury sanctioned six people and seven companies Monday for alleged money laundering for factions of Mexico’s Sinaloa Cartel, underscoring the group’s new designation as a foreign terrorist organization under the Trump administration. The designation aimed at "targeting the financial operations" of the cartel, which has raked in money by trafficking fentanyl to the United States, came as part of an investigation by U.S. and Mexican government agencies. The Treasury said those listed used a "network of front companies and shell corporations" to launder money, often using things like currency exchange businesses along the U.S.-Mexico border and larger bulk cash pickups. Analysts say the terrorism designation would not vastly expand the American government’s power to go after the criminal groups nor take military action in Mexico, an idea Trump has bounced on a number of occasions. But law enforcement officials and other experts say it will provide authorities with more tools to go after the cartels, which in recent years have expanded their enterprises from just drug-trafficking to everything from avocado production to migrant smuggling.

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Bloomberg [3/31/2025 1:02 PM, Daniel Flatley, 16228K]

Border Report [3/31/2025 7:55 PM, Julian Resendiz, 117K] reports the war in Ukraine opened Pandora’s box when it comes to using drones in combat. The low-cost, remotely guided flying contraptions can drop explosives from the sky or come down and literally blow up in an enemy combatant’s lap. Now some in the United States are worried if the newly designated Foreign Terrorist Organizations that are the Mexican cartels haven’t been taking notes and preparing to strike at U.S. service members on border duty. Cartels already are using drones to track border agents across the international boundary, according to El Paso’s interim Border Patrol chief. And they have been used to drop drugs in U.S. neighborhoods just across the border from Mexico in West Texas and Southern Arizona. Several GOP House members earlier this month sent a letter to the Trump administration expressing such concerns and demanding to know what’s the plan to counter the threat. Arizona state lawmakers a month earlier filed HB 2733, which would exempt peace officers from liability for shooting down within 15 miles of the Mexican border drones they suspect are being used for criminal activity. The bill last week cleared a Senate committee. Arizona Attorney General Kris Mayes called the bill "critical" to border security. "(It) will help law enforcement combat drug traffickers and international criminal drug rings," she said on X. "HB 2733 gives Arizona sheriffs and local law enforcement the ability to disable the drones the cartels use to smuggle dangerous drugs across our border.” In Mexico, the cartels have dropped grenades from drones on rivals and this year used them to attack Mexican National Guard troops in the northern border state of Chihuahua. But, are they getting ready to use them against the Border Patrol and the U.S. military? An international security firm says they could – if they feel sufficiently threatened by the Trump administration and the Mexican government. "There are multiple concerns over drones; there few, if any effective countermeasures. Shooting them out of the skies isn’t viable (because of) risks of collateral damage – bullets flying to all kinds of places," said Michael Ballard, director of intelligence for Virginia-based Global Guardian.

New York Times [3/31/2025 4:01 PM, Carol Rosenberg, 145325K] reports five senators who visited the U.S. base at Guantánamo Bay, Cuba, criticized the migrant mission there over the weekend as a waste of resources, after the Pentagon estimated that the operation had cost $40 million in its first month. The Senate delegation on Friday toured Immigration and Customs Enforcement facilities where about 85 migrants were being held, including in a prison that for years housed wartime detainees linked to Al Qaeda. The senators also spoke with officials from the Defense and Homeland Security Departments. About 1,000 government employees, mostly from the military, are staffing the migrant operation. The administration has sent fewer than 400 men, at least half of them Venezuelans, to the base since February as part of President Trump’s crackdown on illegal immigration. The authorities returned about half of them to facilities in the United States without explaining why scores of people needed to be housed at Guantánamo for short stays. As of Monday, there were fewer than 90 immigration detainees at the base after the U.S. military delivered 17 Salvadorans and Venezuelans from Guantánamo to a prison in El Salvador.

CNN [3/31/2025 5:40 PM, Rene Marsh and Marshall Cohen, 22131K] reports as many as 50 senior IT professionals at the Internal Revenue Service, including some of the agency’s top cybersecurity experts, were placed on administrative leave Friday as the Trump administration finalizes controversial plans to share taxpayer data with federal immigration authorities, according to three sources familiar with the matter. The dozens of IRS employees who were placed on leave Friday evening saw their access to the agency’s computer systems immediately cut off, according to the sources. Some of the dozens of employees tried to go into the office Monday morning but were rebuffed, one source said. CNN reported last week that the IRS is close to reaching an unprecedented agreement with Immigration and Customs Enforcement to share location information of suspected undocumented immigrants as the administration works to ramp up deportations. That has sparked a legal battle over the information that’s typically confidential. Two immigrant-rights groups filed a lawsuit this month seeking to block the IRS from providing taxpayer data to ICE or the Department of Homeland Security. A judge recently declined to issue an emergency order tying the IRS’ hands, but a hearing is scheduled for mid-April to determine whether an injunction is appropriate, now that the plans are more concrete.

FOX News [4/1/2025 4:00 AM, Adam Sabes, 46189K] reports several colleges that are being targeted by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) under the Trump administration have recruited illegal immigrants with hefty financial aid packages. On day 1 of President Donald Trump’s administration, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) issued a directive that opened the door for immigration enforcement to take place on college campuses. Since then, ICE has detained several students. Tufts University student Rumeysa Öztürk was taken into custody on Wednesday by ICE in Somerville, Massachusetts, after her visa was revoked by the Department of Homeland Security. A spokesperson for the Department of Homeland Security previously told Fox News Digital that Öztürk was "granted the privilege to be in this country on a visa.” "DHS and ICE investigations found Öztürk engaged in activities in support of Hamas, a foreign terrorist organization that relishes the killing of Americans," the spokesperson said. Tufts University in Boston has a webpage that states illegal immigrants, as well as individuals with Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals status, are eligible to obtain "100% of demonstrated need" of the cost to attend the institution. "Tufts proudly meets 100% of the demonstrated financial need of every admitted student, regardless of citizenship status," reads the Tufts webpage. Notably, according to the American Immigration Council, more than 408,000 illegal immigrant students are enrolled at American colleges and universities. Rep. Burgess Owens, R-Utah, told Fox News Digital that colleges have been courting illegal immigrants for "too long" and suggested pulling some federal funding for certain institutions. "This has been going on way too long, and I’m just thankful that we are really at a point of being able to have these kind of conversations, be able to hold the colleges accountable, and the only way to do that is to take away the money. That’s the only thing that they understand," Owens said. The Joint Task Force to Combat Anti-Semitism announced Monday it’s reviewing over $255.6 million in contracts between the federal government and Harvard University.

Yahoo! News [3/31/2025 9:10 PM, Anuj Chopra, 52868K] reports that, fearing a US immigration raid will separate her from her children, an undocumented Honduran immigrant hunkers down in her Washington home, anxiously scouring a WhatsApp group for real-time updates on nearby sweeps. Rosario, a 35-year-old mother of two, practically lives in hiding in the face of US President Donald Trump’s sweeping campaign to arrest and deport millions of undocumented immigrants since his return to the White House in January. Her only lifeline is a community group on the messaging app that provides news about immigration raids in Washington neighborhoods -- often mixed with unverified or false information. "You stay informed and stay a little more alert thanks to the group," Rosario told AFP in her studio apartment, festooned with birthday balloons, stuffed toys, and a wall hanging made from corn husk. "That way, you get rid of fear a little bit -- but fear always persists," said the part-time dishwasher, who crossed into the United States in 2021 after an arduous journey from her home country. Rosario, who refused to disclose her real name, peered through her window blinds for any lurking agents from ICE -- the Immigration and Customs Enforcement department, which has been deployed to carry out the Trump administration’s promise to target undocumented immigrants. "Alert: ICE activity was reported at a business center on (Mount) Pleasant around noon," a message flashed in the group, adding that six masked agents were spotted in the Washington neighborhood and one person was detained. It was not possible for Rosario to ascertain whether the tip was real or fake. Still, she remained confident the community group, fed by other immigrants and advocates, provided reliable information -- crucial for determining her limited movements to work and to purchase groceries.

Axios [4/1/2025 5:00 AM, Russell Contreras, 13163K] reports the Trump administration’s pace of removing immigrants from the U.S. continues to lag behind Joe Biden’s pace last year, even as detentions have jumped under President Trump, new numbers show. The pace of removals under Trump is actually slowing compared to his first two weeks in office, despite several high-profile raids and the targeting of foreign students as part of a sweeping immigration crackdown, The declining rate of removals is partly the result of dramatically fewer people crossing the border illegally, a sign that Trump’s stepped-up enforcement there is working as intended and deterring would-be crossers. But several other factors are complicating Trump’s push to expand "fast-track" deportations. Among them: Civil liberties groups are challenging rapid deportations in court, and the administration fired 29 immigration judges and senior staffers. The decrease in removals came before the administration sent 238 alleged Venezuelan gang members to a prison in El Salvador, leading immigrant rights groups to claim it was a stunt partly aimed at boosting the removal numbers. In Trump’s first full six weeks in office, the administration removed 27,772 immigrants from the U.S., according to data from the ICE detention management database and collected by the nonpartisan Transactional Records Access Clearinghouse (TRAC). That’s a daily average of 661 removals — an 11% decrease from the daily average of 742 under President Biden last fiscal year. From Jan. 26 to Feb. 8, the Trump administration removed an average of 693 immigrants daily, a 6.5% decline from Biden’s last days in office. TRAC said in a report released last week that the pace is falling despite the Trump administration deploying staff from other agencies to assist in enforcement activities. "President Trump’s removal record is growing worse with time rather than improving," TRAC said.

New York Times [3/31/2025 6:00 AM, Rachel Abrams, 145325K] reports immigration arrests are taking place at universities across the country. The story of three Columbia students helps explain what’s happening, and why. Hamed Aleaziz, who covers immigration policy, lays out what their cases reveal about the latest immigration crackdown — and about this administration’s views on free speech. [Editorial note: consult audio at source link]

Washington Post [3/31/2025 5:20 PM, Aaron Blake, 31735K] reports Trump has in recent weeks pursued the rapid deportation of Venezuelans he claims are members of the transnational gang Tren de Aragua. Hundreds of them were whisked to a notorious maximum-security prison in El Salvador this month without due process, and the flights continued even after a judge ordered them to return. The Trump administration claims it had the right to do this under the 1798 Alien Enemies Act, which before then had been invoked only during wartime. But that lack of due process has raised significant questions about whether the wrong people were seized. The attorneys for some deportees have claimed that their clients’ tattoos were misinterpreted and pointed out that they had no criminal records. The immigration detention records of one of the deportees are reportedly riddled with mistakes. The Trump administration appears to have relied in part on a points system to decide who was a gang member. But in a key decision Friday, a federal judge ruled that the administration’s evidence linking two other Venezuelan migrants to Tren de Aragua was sorely lacking.

The Hill [3/31/2025 2:20 PM, Lexi Lonas Cochran, 12829K] reports that a group of Senate Democrats on Monday sent a letter to the Department of Homeland Security demanding the release of a Harvard Medical School researcher who was detained by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) amid the Trump administration’s crackdown. "We write with great concern about recent reports that Kseniia Petrova, a Russian citizen and Harvard Medical School researcher, had her J-1 scholar visa revoked over a month ago," said the letter, from Sen. Adam Schiff (Calif.) and 15 other Democrats to Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem. Petrova was detained on her way back from France over failure to disclose frog embryos she was bringing into the country. "A subsequent K9 inspection uncovered undeclared petri dishes, containers of unknown substances, and loose vials of embryonic frog cells, all without proper permits," a DHS spokesperson said in the statement. "Messages found on her phone revealed she planned to smuggle the materials through customs without declaring them." "She knowingly broke the law and took deliberate steps to evade it," they added.

Washington Examiner [3/31/2025 1:32 PM, Staff, 2296K] reports that the Trump administration has arrested and detained several students at universities across the country in the weeks since President Donald Trump’s executive order to crack down on antisemitism, with a special eye on college campuses. The executive order, which Trump signed in January, states the president will “quickly cancel the student visas of all Hamas sympathizers on college campuses, which have been infested with radicalism like never before,” according to a White House fact sheet. "To all the resident aliens who joined in the pro-jihadist protests, we put you on notice: come 2025, we will find you, and we will deport you," the fact sheet reads. The State Department has also begun harnessing the power of artificial intelligence to go after visa recipients in the United States who appear to express sympathy for Hamas and other terrorist groups. Under the Immigration and Nationality Act, Secretary of State Marco Rubio has the authority to rescind visas of noncitizens he determines to be a threat to U.S. interests. As of March 27, the State Department had revoked the visas of over 300 foreign college and university students as part of a crackdown on pro-Hamas rioters who targeted campuses last year.

Newsweek [3/31/2025 11:56 AM, Billal Rahman, 52220K] reports that an Idaho Republican has accused a GOP rival of harassment in an op-ed after he reported her farm to federal immigration authorities. In January, Ryan Spoon, vice chair of the Republican Party in Ada County, publicly called for immigration raids on State Representative Stephanie Mickelsen’s farm, accusing her of employing undocumented workers. Days later, Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents arrived at Mickelsen Farms, escalating political tensions and raising concerns about the impact of immigration enforcement on Idaho’s agriculture industry. "Those who speak up with concerns that challenge certain views are quickly labeled as non-conservative and targeted for harassment," Mickelsen wrote in an op-ed published in The Idaho Statesman. President Donald Trump promised to carry out the largest deportation operation in United States history. He has repeatedly vowed to remove millions of undocumented immigrants. The White House has said that anyone in the country illegally is considered a "criminal" and therefore subjected to removal. Idaho’s economy, especially its agriculture, depends heavily on immigrant labor. A recent University of Idaho report estimates that 35,000 undocumented immigrants contribute significantly to sectors like agriculture, hospitality, and construction, with their economic impact reaching tens of millions of dollars.

Boston 25 News [3/31/2025 6:19 PM, April Baker, Frank O’Laughlin] reports a Boston judge on Monday dismissed the criminal case against a man who was detained mid-trial by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, finding a federal agent involved in the arrest in contempt of court over "egregious conduct." Wilson Martell-Lebron appeared Thursday in Boston’s Edward W. Brooke Courthouse for the first day of his trial on charges that he provided false information on a license application, The Boston Globe reported. Defense attorney Murat Erkan told the newspaper that plainclothes ICE agents detained Martell-Lebron as he left the court, placed him in an unmarked SUV, and drove away. On Monday, Boston Municipal Court Judge Mark Summerville accused ICE of "obstructing justice." He also found that ICE agent Brian Sullivan "conspired in a premeditated manner" to take Martell-Lebron into custody and not return him to court. Summerville alleged that Sullivan "intentionally" and "aggregiously" violated the rights of Martell-Lebron that are protected by the 6th and 14th amendments of the U.S. Constitution, finding him in contempt of court.

Yahoo! News [3/31/2025 11:09 AM, Frank O’Laughlin, 52868K] reports that U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents took a man into custody in the middle of his criminal trial last week, according to the Suffolk District Attorney’s Office. "We have been instrumental to Boston becoming one of safest cities in the nation by pursuing ethical prosecutions that hold offenders accountable and treat victims with dignity," a spokesperson for the DA’s office said. "We were dismayed and surprised when our prosecution of William Martell-Lebron was interrupted by ICE apprehending him in the middle of our case." The DA’s office said it contacted ICE as soon as it learned about Martell-Lebron’s detention and filed a motion requesting that the court demand his appearance at trial. "Any claim that we were aware of an attempt to prevent Mr. Martell Lebron from exercising his right to a trial is false. It was and still is our intention to try Mr. Martell-Lebron and hold him accountable for the crimes alleged in the complaint," the DA’s office explained. "Federal authorities should not have detained him and interfered with our efforts to hold him accountable." Martell-Lebron appeared Thursday in Boston’s Edward W. Brooke Courthouse for the first day of his trial on charges that he provided false information on a license application, The Boston Globe reported. Defense attorney Murat Erkan told the newspaper that plainclothes ICE agents detained Martell-Lebron as he left the court, placed him in an unmarked SUV, and drove away. [Editorial note: consult video at source link for video]

CNN [3/31/2025 6:00 AM, Shimon Prokupecz, Linh Tran and Rachel Clarke, 908K] reports Ranjani Srinivasan was busy talking to an adviser at Columbia University when the federal agents first came to her door. The day before she’d got an unexpected email that her student visa had been canceled, and she was trying to get information. "It was my roommate who heard the knock and immediately recognized (it as) law enforcement," Srinivasan told CNN. "She asked them ‘Do you have a warrant?’ And they had to say ‘No.’". "I was stunned and scared," she said. "I remember telling the adviser ‘ICE is at my door and you’re telling me I’m fine? Do something.’". They returned another day, also without a warrant, Srinivasan said. Matters escalated when they came a third time, with a judge’s permission to enter the Columbia apartment. By then she had already left the country. The biggest question for Srinivasan is why they came at all. Srinivasan had renewed her student visa just a few months earlier, being granted permission for another five years in the United States — more than enough time to complete her PhD in urban planning. She was no stranger to immigration rules, having won a Fulbright scholarship to Harvard University for her master’s degree and then returning to her native India for the requisite two years after. Her dream acceptance at Columbia’s Graduate School of Architecture, Planning and Preservation coincided with the beginning of the Covid pandemic, so she started her studies in Chennai, India, before making it to New York City. By last month, the end of her doctorate was almost in sight, she was grading papers for the students she was teaching and fretting over a deadline for a journal. Far from her mind was a night almost a year before when she got caught up in a crowd. That evening in April 2024 she’d been trying to get back to her university apartment from a staff picnic when she was swept up in a police operation against a crowd protesting Israel’s war with Hamas in Gaza, she said. Srinivasan had only just returned to the US, having been away from Columbia since before the war began and generated passionate protests. "We didn’t really know what was going to happen that day," she said. "The whole perimeter of the neighborhood had been barricaded." Unable to prove she lived there, she wasn’t allowed to go to her street, so she ended up circling the neighborhood, looking for a way through, she told CNN.

Miami Herald [3/31/2025 11:46 AM, Lautaro Grinspan, 3973K] reports that to make strides toward its goal of enacting mass deportations, President Donald Trump’s administration has signaled it will lean on state and local law enforcement to boost arrests of immigrants who are in the country without authorization. Georgia has stepped up to help. Earlier this month, Gov. Brian Kemp announced that he wants all 1,100 sworn officers of Georgia’s Department of Public Safety to make immigration inquiries and arrests in the state. It’s a decision that marks a significant expansion in Georgia of a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement program dubbed 287(g), which deputizes local officers to carry out some of the tasks of federal immigration agents. "If you are in our country illegally and committing crimes, you have no place in Georgia," said Kemp, who called the 287(g) expansion a "common sense measure" that aligns with Trump’s crackdown on illegal immigration. In recent years, the Department of Public Safety has only applied 287(g) to immigrants who were already in jail. As a result of Kemp’s decision, state troopers will play a much more active role partnering with ICE to find, interrogate and detain immigrants suspected of being in the country illegally. According to ICE, this so-called "task force model" of the 287(g) program is a "force multiplier." Although it is unclear if it would allow Georgia troopers to stop people solely to check their immigration status, community advocates say that looms as a distinct possibility.

Tallahassee Democrat [3/31/2025 3:45 PM, Ana Goñi-Lessan] reports Florida’s new illegal immigration advisory panel is asking President Donald Trump to sign more executive orders to allow state law enforcement to expedite the removal of undocumented immigrants, including those who do not have removal orders or criminal records. The State Immigration Enforcement Council met in Largo on Monday, where chair Grady Judd said local law enforcement needs federal policy change at the highest levels, including U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement. It was an "Immigration 101" session for the council’s first meeting, with the state’s immigration czar and law enforcement officers sharing their observations, concerns and frustrations as they begin to enforce the state’s new immigration laws in collaboration with the feds. Pinellas County Sheriff Bob Gualtieri was concerned about the constitutionality of one of the immigration laws signed by Gov. Ron DeSantis, and officials voiced frustrations with the federal government, which blocked the state’s attempts to have all 67 jails available to house potential immigrant detainees.

NBC News [3/31/2025 5:37 PM, Nicole Acevedo, 44742K] reports time is running out for José Alfredo Pacheco, a dialysis patient in Illinois who needs a lifesaving kidney transplant. His donor and brother, José Gregorio González, has been in an immigration detention center for nearly a month and is at risk of being deported to Venezuela. González, 43, arrived in the United States from Venezuela last year to reunite with his brother, who was diagnosed with end-stage renal disease, or kidney failure, in December 2023. Since then, González had been caring for his younger brother. They share the same mother. González sought asylum in the United States. But after he did not pass an initial credible fear interview, immigration authorities placed a deportation order on him. He was still allowed to remain in the United States under ICE supervision, which is not uncommon.

CBS Minnesota [3/31/2025 3:44 PM, Staff, 51661K] reports at least two Minnesota university students have been detained by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement in the last week, according to school officials. In a statement released Monday, the president of Minnesota State University-Mankato said a student was detained by ICE at an off-campus residence last Friday. The U of M said it had no prior knowledge of the incident and didn’t share any information with federal officials before the detainment happened. The incident has raised fears among the more than 5,000 international students at the university. CNN [3/31/2025 7:27 PM, Gloria Pazmino and Amanda Musa, 908K] reports a University of Minnesota graduate student who was detained by US Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials last week was taken into custody because of a prior drunken driving incident and not for involvement in campus protests, according to a senior Department of Homeland Security official. “This is not related to student protests,” the official said in a statement on Monday. “The individual in question was arrested after a visa revocation by the State Dept. related to a prior criminal history for a DUI.” In a letter to the campus community, the University of Minnesota said the individual was an “international student” who was detained last Thursday at an off-campus residence. The student, who has not been identified, is enrolled at the Twin Cities campus. CNN reached out to the student’s attorney on Monday for an update following the DHS statement on the reasoning for the arrest but did not immediately hear back. However, the attorney said in an earlier statement to CNN that the case was “highly sensitive situation” and they wanted to protect their client’s privacy. The University of Minnesota had no prior knowledge of the student’s detainment and did not share any information with federal authorities before it occurred, the letter to the school community said, which was signed by the university president and other school officials. “It is important to note that our campus departments of public safety, including UMPD, do not enforce federal immigration laws, and our officers do not inquire about an individual’s immigration status,” the statement read. The AP [3/31/2025 5:34 PM, Steve Karnowski] reports that news of the student’s detention — and the lack of an official explanation — sparked student protests and expressions of concern from university and political leaders. Gov. Tim Walz told reporters Monday that he spoke with Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem about it Friday and was still waiting for further details. Meanwhile, officials at Minnesota State University Mankato said Monday that one of their students had been detained by ICE as well.

Reported similarly:
New York Times [3/31/2025 7:27 PM, Ernesto Londoño and Alan Blinder, 145325K]
Minnesota Public Radio [3/31/2025 4:22 PM, Hannah Yang and Matt Sepic, 60K]
Newsweek [3/31/2025 11:44 AM, Billal Rahman, 52220K]

Houston Chronicle [3/31/2025 7:00 AM, Yilun Cheng, 1769K] reports that, as President Donald Trump’s administration conducts immigration crackdowns across the country, the use of federal detainers on local jail populations — a major tool driving the deportation system — has dropped sharply in Harris County in January and February. U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement has long leaned on local law enforcement and access to county jails to deport people already living in the country without legal permission. An ICE detainer, or immigration hold, is essentially a request asking local jails to notify ICE before releasing someone suspected of immigration violations, and to hold the person for up to 48 hours longer so federal agents can take them into custody for possible deportation. Harris County, the third most populous in the United States, has long led the country in the number of ICE detainers placed on its jail population, according to data from the nonprofit Transactional Records Access Clearinghouse. But the latest records obtained by the Houston Chronicle show a sharp slowdown in recent months. Last year, ICE placed an average of around 1,000 new detainers each month on Harris County Jail inmates, state records show. In January, that number fell to 644. By February — Trump’s first full month back in office — it declined further to 408. That marks a 69% year-over-year decrease from the 1,31 detainers issued in February 2024. While experts cautioned that it may be too early to draw conclusions, they said the decrease aligns with recent reports of Trump’s frustration over ICE’s performance, and with what appears to be a shift in enforcement strategy as ICE centers more of its efforts around high-profile raids in local neighborhoods. "Trump’s approach to politics is very spectacle driven," said Austin Kocher, a professor at Syracuse University who focuses on immigration studies. "Certainly having ICE in the community doing arrests is going to make people feel more afraid than just having detainers.” Jason Spencer, a spokesperson for the Harris County Sheriff’s Office, said there have been no changes in local policies or practices that could significantly affect the number of immigration holds, and it’s up to ICE to decide how many detainers they wish to issue. ICE did not respond to the Chronicle’s request for information.

FOX News [3/31/2025 5:13 PM, Peter Pinedo, 46189K] reports Iowa Attorney General Brenna Bird is suing to defund an entire county after its leading law enforcement authority vowed to "make every effort to block, interfere and interrupt" deportation operations based on ICE detainers, which he called unconstitutional. Bird, a Republican, argues that the sheriff’s self-proclaimed "longtime" stance of interrupting immigration enforcement operations based on detainers "impeded and discouraged cooperation with federal immigration authorities in violation of Iowa law." ICE officials have said that by refusing to honor detainers, law enforcement agencies put their communities at risk by allowing potentially dangerous illegals back onto the streets. Despite this, Winneshiek County Sheriff Dan Marx pledged not to cooperate with ICE detainers in a Feb. 4 Facebook post in which he asserted that a detainer is "simply an unconstitutional *request* from ICE."

Yahoo! News [3/31/2025 9:24 PM, Heather Willard, 52868K] reports a man who tried to flee after he was faced with Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents outside the Denver County jail has been charged with "forcibly assaulting a federal officer with physical contact.” The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Colorado said it had filed a charge against Abraham Gonzalez Romero, 23, of Venezuela. He appeared in federal court on Monday, according to the office, although he was arrested in late February. The charge comes as ICE continues to make statements online warning anyone faced with federal agents that assaulting an officer is a serious federal crime. The agency has posted images telling individuals to "think before you resist," and "assaulting a federal officer may cost you your freedom.” The U.S. Attorney’s Office said that ICE Denver Fugitive Operations Unit and Homeland Security Investigation Denver "encountered" Gonzalez Romero on Feb. 28 as he was being released from the Denver County jail. It’s unclear why he had been in jail. The U.S. Attorney’s Office said that the officers present had ICE badges and placards visible when they approached Gonzalez Romero. One officer attempted to contact Gonzalez Romero, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office, and the suspect jumped over a nearby handrail and ran. Officers pursued, and one officer "positioned himself to block his exit." The U.S. Attorney’s Office said Gonzalez Romero "ran straight at the officer rather than swerve to avoid him," which resulted in the pair colliding. The officer was "knocked backwards from the impact and both fell to the ground." The U.S. Attorney’s Office did not say if the officer was injured. Gonzalez Romero was subsequently subdued and arrested, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office. The U.S. Attorney’s Office, citing an affidavit in support of the criminal complaint, said Gonzalez Romero entered the U.S. without documentation at or near Eagle Pass, Texas, on or about Sept. 20, 2023.

NBC News [3/31/2025 6:15 PM, Iris Kim, 44742K] reports Carolina Sanchez joined the United Farm Workers union in 2016 after the blueberry farm where she worked changed the daily rate for each pound she picked. "They said if you don’t like what you’re paid, you can go home," Sanchez said. She organized the 500 workers at the Delano farm to strike with the UFW’s support. Eventually, they won a union contract, and Sanchez was elected as the union representative at her workplace. This month, Sanchez began mobilizing her fellow workers to attend a march she was leading Monday, César Chávez Day. Sixty years after the historic Delano grape strike, which launched Chávez’s 280-mile march to Sacramento with Filipino American and Mexican American farmworkers, over 5,000 United Farm Worker members and other union members gathered Monday in Delano for a march to the Forty Acres site where Chávez held his first public fast. This year’s march focused on the Trump administration’s recent immigration policies, in the hope that the rally, called "con estas manos," or "with these hands," reminds people about the workers who grow and pick their food. Farmworkers in California, who grow one-third of the country’s vegetables and three-fourths of its fruits and nuts, have reported growing fear and anxiety over a series of Immigration and Customs Enforcement arrests and deportations in the Central Valley. Around half of California’s farmworkers are undocumented, according to a study by the University of California, Irvine, and according to the U.S. Agriculture Department, about 42% nationwide lack legal immigration status.

SFGate [3/31/2025 3:00 AM, Nigel Duara, 12335K] reports that truth be told, there’s a lot of white trucks in Modesto. White Dodge Rams, white GMC Sierras, white F150s, white Ford Transit vans, white Suburbans, white Silverados, white Chevy Colorados. So many white trucks, all of them American-made: a sure sign of danger to people who read about a January immigration raid 130 miles south and spent the next two months watching for signs of the next one. Regardless of who’s inside, those big white trucks have become a symbol of federal immigration enforcement in the heart of California’s farm country. "They usually show up in white trucks, that’s the first signal," said Lorena Lara, director of organizing for the Valley Watch Network, a coalition of volunteer dispatchers and legal observers who respond to reports of immigration raids in the Central Valley. "Then we look for license plates, they’ll say DHS, or there won’t be a license plate. The trucks have big antennas, like huge, always American-made. Sometimes you can see a divider between the front and the back. "You don’t know which truck will be immigration (enforcement). And our dispatchers will get calls, saying there are trucks in the area, even if it turns out to be construction workers or something. Families are too scared to pick up their kids (from school). They’re too scared to go grocery shopping." "If you are here illegally, we will find you and deport you," said Homeland Security Director Kristi Noem earlier this month. "You will never return. But if you leave now, you may have an opportunity to return and enjoy our freedom and live the American Dream."

FOX News [3/31/2025 8:32 PM, Louis Casiano, Bill Melugin, 52868K] reports the Department of Homeland Security will no longer participate in naturalization ceremonies in state, county, and city venues in localities that have adopted sanctuary policies, which limit local law enforcement from cooperating with federal immigration enforcement efforts. Leadership at U.S. Citizenship & Immigration Services (USCIS) told employees at every field office in a Monday email that the agency will no longer participate in such events. "USCIS will not participate with these state/local entities for administrative ceremonies and instead will host the ceremonies at our offices, privately-owned venues, or other federally owned/operated spaces," the directive states. "If an entity located in a sanctuary city requests to host a ceremony, we request that you politely decline the invitation.” Immigrants take the oath of allegiance to the United States during a naturalization ceremony on February 01, 2023 in Newark, New Jersey. Thirty-five people became American citizens at the event held by U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services at the Federal Building in Newark. For example, if the city of Los Angeles wanted to host a naturalization ceremony at a library, museum or school, USCIS would not participate, meaning the event couldn’t be held. The ceremonies are the final step towards becoming a U.S. citizen, and is where the Oath of Allegiance is taken. A senior DHS official told Fox News that sanctuary policies put the public and law enforcement at risk. "Sanctuary policies are an insult to our Constitution, they endanger all levels of law enforcement, and they leave law-abiding American citizens around the country at the mercy of violent and dangerous criminal aliens," the officials said. "America still welcomes those who come here legally and complete the naturalization process, USCIS will simply do those at locations where the rule of law is still respected.” The change won’t affect someone’s chance of becoming a naturalized American citizen, USCIS said.

USA Today [3/31/2025 10:34 PM, Francesca Chambers and Erin Mansfield, 75858K] reports a plan for the Trump administration to bar entry into the United States from foreign nationals whose countries do not meet its vetting standards has been indefinitely postponed, with no new date set. The State Department said Monday it is continuing to work on the report that would serve as the basis for the anticipated visa restrictions but could not say when it would be ready. President Donald Trump signed an executive order on his first day in office requesting recommendations on what new visa restrictions should be applied to which countries by March 21. Trump gave his administration 60 days to submit a report "identifying countries throughout the world for which vetting and screening information is so deficient as to warrant a partial or full suspension on the admission of nationals from those countries.” A list of more than 40 nations, including Iran, Russia and Venezuela, were reportedly under consideration for full or partially restricted travel to the U.S. as part of the mandate, which built on a travel ban Trump enacted during his first term and the Supreme Court upheld. But the due date for an official list to be submitted came and went without an announcement from the White House, and the State Department’s top spokesperson declared the deadline no longer in effect. State Department spokeswoman Tammy Bruce said at a briefing on Monday that a new date for the recommendations had not been set. She called the original deadline, which was set by Trump’s executive order, a "target date that no longer applies" without offering an explanation. "The State Department like every department in President Trump’s administration are acting on executive orders, including this one," Bruce said. It was not immediately clear why the administration postponed the report that would lay the groundwork for Trump to enact a new travel ban and impose visa restrictions on foreign nationals from select countries. "I can’t speak to that. But I can tell you that we’re working on what the executive order asked for," Bruce said, describing them as "restrictions on other countries" of "whether or not they meet the standard of security and vetting that’s required for entry into the United States" rather than a travel ban.

Yahoo! News [3/31/2025 6:58 AM, Melanie DaSilva, 52868K] reports that, with border security tightening under the new Trump Administration, some experts are warning those who don’t have full citizenship to avoid leaving the country if they want to come back in. Concerns have grown after reports of legal visa and green card holders being detained at Boston Logan Airport. Just last month, a Russian research scientist at Harvard Medical School was taken into custody by the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). Court documents say her visa was revoked for failing to disclose frog embryo samples at customs. CAIR-Massachusetts Executive Director Tahirah Amtul-Wadud said travelers are also at risk of having their devices searched when entering the country. "Everyone, including U.S. citizens, are at risk of having their phones and devices not only taken and searched but the contents also downloaded," she explained. Americans do have the right to refuse, but they could remain detained until consenting to the search.

Northern Public Radio [4/1/2025 5:00 AM, Joel Rose, 29K] reports that, when Madonna Cristobal landed at the airport near Seattle in February, she and her aunt waited in the same line for customs. Cristobal, a U.S. citizen, sailed through. Then she waited for her aunt. And waited. "One hour, two, three hours," Cristobal said. "I started to worry, and then I’m like, ‘Oh, what the heck is going on?’". Cristobal’s aunt, Lewelyn Dixon, had been detained by U.S. Customs and Border Protection. Dixon is a lawful permanent resident who has lived in the U.S. for 50 years, since the family immigrated to the U.S. from the Philippines. She has traveled internationally many times with her green card and never had any trouble coming back to the U.S. — until now. "We had a great time visiting our homeland, visiting family," Cristobal said. "My aunt don’t deserve this.” It was only after Cristobal and her sister hired a lawyer that they found out why Dixon, who is 64 years old, was detained. A felony conviction for embezzling nearly $6,500 from the bank where she worked more than 20 years ago is still on her record. At the time, Dixon pleaded guilty and paid a fine, according to her lawyer. She never served any jail time, though she did spend a month in a halfway house. But now, any past infraction can loom large as immigration authorities ramp up enforcement at airports and borders crossings. "It’s maximum enforcement these days," said Benjamin Osorio, an immigration lawyer who is representing Dixon. Traveling to the U.S. from abroad has gotten riskier under the Trump administration’s crackdown — even for people with valid visas and green cards, immigration lawyers say. "There isn’t a lot of explanation," said Ben Johnson, the executive director of the American Immigration Lawyers Association. "There isn’t a lot of consistency on what they’re doing except trying to find any and every reason to prevent people from coming back into the United States and any and every reason to try to kick people out of the United States," Johnson said. Border officials are taking a harder line with green-card holders who have minor offenses on their records. That includes Fabian Schmidt, a New Hampshire man originally from Germany who was detained, possibly because of a decade-old misdemeanor charge for marijuana possession in California that was later dismissed.

Miami Herald [4/1/2025 4:15 AM, Reid Forgrave, 3973K] reports Daria "Dasha" Shyroka is a 19-year-old college student with a naturally bubbly disposition. She’s rarely seen without a smile, even in her precarious predicament: War in the homeland she hasn’t visited since 2021 but could soon see her forced return. On a recent afternoon the smile was gone and Shyroka sat in a quiet room in the library at Gustavus Adolphus College, tears streaming down her face. The sophomore is often found here, her head buried in books. She apologized for losing her composure, her voice catching as she recalled the moment three years ago when everything changed. It was early on Feb. 24, 2022, well before sunrise in the Alexandria home where Shyroka was living as a high school exchange student. Her phone woke her: Her mom calling from her hometown of Poltava in central Ukraine, between Kyiv and Kharkiv. Russia had attacked, her mom said. She was glad her only child was in a safe place. Then her mom switched to the past tense: If this was the end, she said, "just know that me and Dad loved you so much.” After the call, the teenager threw up. The ensuing three years have been an emotional whirlwind: Her typical teen angst was stirred up by news reports of drone attacks on her hometown. Two communities, in Alexandria and at Gustavus, supporting her during her time in limbo. Her dad on the front lines while her mother, who works in the legal profession, processing estates of the war dead. Working toward becoming a doctor like her grandparents - taking 19 college credits this semester as a double major in chemistry and nursing - despite not knowing if her stay in the United States will abruptly end as President Donald Trump weighs revoking the legal status of fellow displaced Ukrainians. "It’s hard to imagine what’s going to happen next," she said. "My reality is I need to be prepared for anything. The only thing I’m really wishing for is for Russia to stop attacking my sweet home and just let Ukraine be safe and happy again, like it was before.”

NPR [3/31/2025 4:54 PM, Eyder Peralta, Greg Dixon, 29983K] Audio: HERE reports during his campaign, President Trump promised to stem migration to the United States. And since taking office his administration has deported plane loads of people, some of whom were in the U.S. legally. Hundreds of deportees have been sent to prison in El Salvador. And President Trump has essentially closed the door to immigrants seeking to enter the country through the border with Mexico. These policies have provoked so-called reverse migration, where people go back to the places they once fled. And that has knock-on effects for other countries. We go to a tiny island in Panama to see the effects of U.S. immigration policy.

CBS Austin [3/31/2025 8:51 AM, Staff, 602K] reports that top White House officials are celebrating what they describe as a successful transformation at the southern border, with a significant decrease in the number of people attempting to claim asylum in the United States. The latest figures from U.S. Customs and Border Protection show about 28,000 encounters last month, a stark contrast to more than 256,000 the previous year. "We secure the border. We’re down border crossing 96%," said Border Czar Tom Homan, highlighting the impact of the U.S. military’s assistance to border agents. In a surprising development, smugglers are now offering "paquetes de retorno," packages that facilitate self-deportation. The White House attributes this trend to the CBP Home app, which aids in the process. A video showing over 200 migrants being taken to a prison in El Salvador is believed to have contributed to rising fears among undocumented migrants. Meanwhile, the city of Rochester, New York, has come under scrutiny after a video surfaced showing Rochester police assisting Border Patrol agents during a traffic stop, despite the city’s sanctuary laws. "We are not to be handcuffing subjects. We are not to be doing pet frisks on subjects, and we are absolutely not going to be detaining them or putting them into our cars," said David Smith with the Rochester Police Department. Homan expressed support for the officers, stating, "Sanctuary policies endanger our police and the public," and added, "Help is coming."

CBS 7 [3/31/2025 11:51 AM, Rafael Romo, 4K] reports that the Trump administration’s crackdown on migrants at the southern border is having a big impact. One migrant shelter that CNN visited on the Honduras-Nicaragua border had only one man staying there. "I’ve noticed that I’m alone here. There’s no influx of people," said Jesús Rodríguez Machado, a Venezuelan migrant. Rodríguez Machado is on his way to the U.S. from Venezuela, but it’s a very different picture than from years past. The shelter, run by a Catholic church, used to be packed with migrants heading to the United States. "The exodus of people has practically stopped," Rodríguez Machado said. Immigration has been a top priority for President Donald Trump, who declared a national emergency at the U.S. southern border and has executed mass deportations since taking office in January. Honduran authorities report a 90% drop in the number of undocumented immigrants passing through their country from January to March when compared to the same period last year. Wilson Paz Reyes, the executive director of the National Migration Institute of Honduras, said last year’s migrant numbers were nearly ten times what they have been in 2025. "We have 8,700 people who have passed through our country or who have entered our country illegally [this year], and last year, up to the same date, we had close to 87,000 to 90,000 people," he said.

FOX News [3/31/2025 12:10 PM, Staff, 46189K] reports that DHS Assistant Secretary for Public Affairs Tricia McLaughlin discusses the charges against an illegal immigrant suspected of murder, a report that more migrants are open to self-deportation and takeaways from Sec. Noem’s visit to Latin America. [Editorial note: consult video at source link]

FOX News [3/31/2025 12:27 PM, Jamie Joseph, 46189K] reports that Kentucky Republican Attorney General Russell Coleman is hopeful that the Trump administration will address an issue he says is a little-known "loophole" allowing shipments of fentanyl to enter the U.S. "On its face, this looks hyper technical and bureaucratic, but what it is is closing a loophole," Coleman told Fox News Digital in an interview on Monday. "And it’s closing a loophole where we receive a massive number of shipments from overseas, particularly China, that receive under this Type 86 with little or no inspection. And that should astound people, that there’s little or no inspection in this threat environment." Coleman is referring to a U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) pilot program called Entry Type 86, which was introduced to streamline the importation process for low-value shipments, particularly those associated with e-commerce. However, Coleman, along with 24 other Republican attorneys general, says the program’s "use far exceeds its original scope" and "raises serious concerns about the flood of deadly drugs coming into our country." "We’re looking at over a billion packages shipped through this loophole last year," Coleman said. "That’s in an environment where, I would argue, we’re facing a threat that has never existed before, and that is this, no margin of error environment in which we’re trying to raise families and protect families, and that is an environment where as little as one pill can and is killing people can and is killing folks Kentuckians."

FOX News [3/31/2025 1:00 PM, Louis Casiano, 46189K] reports that they say everything is bigger in Texas, and the Lone Star State itself is growing a bit. Texas has claimed two cartel-infested islands along the Rio Grande as part of an ongoing state effort to eliminate safe havens used by Mexican drug organizations. In a letter to border czar Tom Homan, Texas Land Commissioner Dawn Buckingham requested that the Trump administration secure and defend Beaver Island, a 20.3-arce island in Starr County, Texas, and the Roma Islands. Both islands have been used by cartels for criminal activity, authorities said. The Roma Islands, which are 12.13 and 20.3 acres respectively, are located near Roma, Texas, and have been called a "smuggler’s paradise." The Texas General Land Office (GLO), the mapping entity for the state, recently received a request from the Texas Military Department to determine the status of the islands and indicate whether they are a part of Texas. The determination will permit law enforcement to conduct security operations in the area. "These islands are important because when they’re literally in no man’s land and they don’t belong to any country, then neither country and have law enforcement or the military step on them," Buckingham told Fox News Digital. "So they become safe havens for the cartel."

Reported similarly:
Washington Examiner [3/31/2025 4:25 PM, Anna Giaritelli, 2296K]

Border Report [3/31/2025 7:55 PM, Julian Resendiz, 117K] reports the war in Ukraine opened Pandora’s box when it comes to using drones in combat. The low-cost, remotely guided flying contraptions can drop explosives from the sky or come down and literally blow up in an enemy combatant’s lap. Now some in the United States are worried if the newly designated Foreign Terrorist Organizations that are the Mexican cartels haven’t been taking notes and preparing to strike at U.S. service members on border duty. Cartels already are using drones to track border agents across the international boundary, according to El Paso’s interim Border Patrol chief. And they have been used to drop drugs in U.S. neighborhoods just across the border from Mexico in West Texas and Southern Arizona. Several GOP House members earlier this month sent a letter to the Trump administration expressing such concerns and demanding to know what’s the plan to counter the threat. Arizona state lawmakers a month earlier filed HB 2733, which would exempt peace officers from liability for shooting down within 15 miles of the Mexican border drones they suspect are being used for criminal activity. The bill last week cleared a Senate committee. Arizona Attorney General Kris Mayes called the bill "critical" to border security. "(It) will help law enforcement combat drug traffickers and international criminal drug rings," she said on X. "HB 2733 gives Arizona sheriffs and local law enforcement the ability to disable the drones the cartels use to smuggle dangerous drugs across our border.”

CBS News [3/31/2025 3:47 PM, Briauna Brown, 51661K] reports a Tarrant County man has been sentenced to six years in federal prison for helping to smuggle undocumented migrants across the U.S.-Mexico border, authorities said. In June 2023, Oland Maurice McKenzie, 43, of Euless, was driving a semi-truck when he was stopped for failing to use a turn signal as he entered a parking lot in Maverick County, Texas, U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Western District of Texas said in a press release. During the stop, a Maverick County deputy learned that McKenzie didn’t have a commercial driver’s license. U.S. Border Patrol agents arrived at the location and launched a K-9 inspection, which led to the discovery of 18 people inside a metal cylinder trailer, commonly used to haul sand or powered concrete. McKenzie was arrested and charged in a criminal complaint, the DOJ said.

Border Report [3/31/2025 7:05 PM, Gabriela Gonzalez, 117K] Video: HERE reports two people died after a vehicle suspected of human smuggling plunged into a canal in Edcouch. As previously reported, the vehicle crashed into the canal Friday morning following a pursuit with Border Patrol agents. Lt. Christopher Olivarez with the Texas Department of Public Safety says seven people occupied the vehicle. DPS recovered the vehicle from the canal on Saturday where one boy was found dead. An adult woman was also pronounced dead at the scene. The driver, a 26-year-old migrant from Mexico, was arrested by DPS and turned over to Border Patrol. He is facing federal criminal charges. Four passengers, not including the driver, survived the crash. It is unknown if the other passengers will face any charges.

FOX News [3/31/2025 7:17 PM, Staff, 46189K] reports U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) agents in El Paso, Texas arrested a man for the second time last week, after he allegedly tried to smuggle 22 large rolls of Mexican bologna into the country, according to authorities. CBP said agricultural specialists assigned to the Paso Del Norte international crossing in El Paso not only seized 22 large rolls of the prohibited pork bologna on March 28, but they also seized 60 undeclared Tramadol tablets from the man’s vehicle. The discovery was made just after 2 a.m. on Friday, when a 52-year-old man, who is a citizen of Albuquerque, New Mexico, entered the U.S. and presented himself for inspection in the vehicle lanes of the port. CBP said the man made a negative declaration for fruits, vegetables and meat products, then was referred for a secondary agriculture inspection. As agents conducted the secondary inspection, CBP Agriculture canine "Harlee" alerted them to the rear cargo area of the man’s vehicle. Agents continued to inspect the vehicle when they located 22 rolls of bologna hidden underneath equipment in the cargo area of the vehicle. CBP seized the bologna and destroyed it according to U.S. Department of Agriculture regulations. This marks the second time within two months that the same man was caught attempting to smuggle bologna into the U.S. at the El Paso port.

USA Today [3/31/2025 11:44 PM, Daniel Borunda, 75858K] reports a U.S. Customs and Border Protection officer was sentenced to more than four years in federal prison after pleading guilty to taking a bribe to allow migrants to cross the border at an El Paso international bridge, federal prosecutors said Monday. A smuggling group paid $4,000 to CBP Officer Omar Moreno for each person that he allowed to cross into the U.S. from Mexico at the Ysleta port of entry at the Zaragoza Bridge in El Paso, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Western District of Texas said. A guide in the smuggling ring told federal investigators that he worked with Moreno to illegally cross an estimated 30 people into the U.S., with Moreno earning as much as $120,000 in the scheme, according to a criminal complaint filed by the FBI. As part of a plea deal, U.S. District Judge David Briones sentenced Moreno, 46, of Horizon City, Texas, to 51 months in federal prison after Moreno pleaded guilty to one count each of bribery of a public official and bringing in noncitizens for financial gain, court documents stated. "He tarnished the badge that so many others proudly wear and uphold their oath," FBI El Paso Special Agent in Charge John Morales said in a statement, adding that Moreno violated his oath to serve and protect and undermined the public’s trust in law enforcement. The investigation started in December 2022 when two migrants told federal agents that they had paid $16,000 to be smuggled into the U.S. via the Ysleta port of entry with the help of a CBP office. They said an officer allowed them to enter without inspection after they gave him a code word, the criminal complaint stated.

Reported similarly:
Yahoo! News [3/31/2025 11:41 AM, Melissa Luna, 52868K]

FOX News [3/31/2025 7:17 PM, Greg Wehner, 46189K] reports U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) agents in El Paso, Texas arrested a man for the second time last week, after he allegedly tried to smuggle 22 large rolls of Mexican bologna into the country, according to authorities. CBP said agricultural specialists assigned to the Paso Del Norte international crossing in El Paso not only seized 22 large rolls of the prohibited pork bologna on March 28, but they also seized 60 undeclared Tramadol tablets from the man’s vehicle. The discovery was made just after 2 a.m. on Friday, when a 52-year-old man, who is a citizen of Albuquerque, New Mexico, entered the U.S. and presented himself for inspection in the vehicle lanes of the port. CBP said the man made a negative declaration for fruits, vegetables and meat products, then was referred for a secondary agriculture inspection. As agents conducted the secondary inspection, CBP Agriculture canine "Harlee" alerted them to the rear cargo area of the man’s vehicle. Agents continued to inspect the vehicle when they located 22 rolls of bologna hidden underneath equipment in the cargo area of the vehicle. CBP seized the bologna and destroyed it according to U.S. Department of Agriculture regulations. This marks the second time within two months that the same man was caught attempting to smuggle bologna into the U.S. at the El Paso port. CBP agriculture specialists seized 55 rolls of undeclared bologna from the man in January, and he was assessed a civil penalty. At that time, the agents also seized and destroyed the contraband meat. The inspection also uncovered 60 Tramadol tablets in the center console of the vehicle. The driver, who was not identified, was issued a $1,000 promissory note for the prescription medication violation since Tramadol is a schedule IV-controlled substance. If the man is found guilty, he could face a fine of up to $10,000. "Pork products have the potential to introduce foreign animal diseases to the U.S. which can have a devastating impact to the U.S. economy and to our agriculture industry," CBP El Paso Director Field Operations Hector A. Mancha said. "It is always best for travelers to declare any items acquired abroad to help CBP stop the introduction of potentially harmful products.”

Reported similarly:
Newsweek [3/31/2025 10:43 AM, Billal Rahman, 52220K]

San Francisco Chronicle [3/31/2025 12:00 PM, Zara Irshad, 5046K] reports that a new installation on Angel Island aims to shed light on the unfair practices that immigrants have been subject to when entering the country in an attempt to spark broader discourse about America’s immigration policies. Spearheaded by San Francisco-based nonprofit Electronic Frontier Foundation, "Border Surveillance: Places, People, and Technology" showcases border surveillance technology. The photographic and informational exhibit, open to the public starting Wednesday, April 2, is the first of its kind in a California State Park and a National Historic Landmark. "Border Surveillance: Places, People, and Technology": Wednesday, April 2. Through late May. Free. Angel Island Immigration Station, VHCF+3C Tiburon Belvedere, Tiburon. 415-435-5390. "Life and Migration Under Surveillance at the U.S.-Mexico Border": Live stream. 1-2 p.m. Thursday, April 3. Free, but must register online. eff.org. "Tracking and Documenting Surveillance at the U.S.-Mexico Border": In person. 6-8 p.m. April 9. "This exhibit is the culmination of years of research and advocacy in hopes of bringing a kind of Border Surveillance 101 education to people who hear a lot about the border on the news but might want a more detailed glimpse," explained EFF Senior Policy Analyst Matthew Guariglia.

Univision [3/31/2025 7:01 PM, Staff, 5325K] reports the U.S. government completed the construction of the controversial bridge over the Tijuana River Canal on the border with Mexico, a work that not only acts as a vehicle crossing, but also serves as a wall and dam. With a 1,000-foot extension, with steel doors 30 feet high, the structure was designed to stem the flow of undocumented migrants and strengthen border security in an area considered vulnerable, as well as control the riverbed during storms. In addition, the structure incorporates a 20-foot-wide road, lighting and a maintenance gateway that allows continuous monitoring and operation by Border Patrol agents and the U.S. Customs and Border Protection Office (CBP). The decision to build the disputed bridge is part of the policy of tightening the border security of President Donald Trump, and in the absence of a natural physical barrier preventing the illegal entry of people into the United States. However, the building has generated intense debates and criticism from both environmental organizations and Mexican and international authorities, due to the potential for floods it could cause in the city of Tijuana, on the Mexican side.

The Hill [3/31/2025 6:43 PM, Rachel Frazin, 12829K] reports spokespeople for FEMA and the Department of Homeland Security, which oversees the disaster relief agency, did not respond to questions about whether FEMA’s services would be cut entirely or reshuffled elsewhere. Carrie Speranza, president of the USA Council of the International Association of Emergency Managers, told The Hill that if FEMA is shut down, she would be "fearful for this next hurricane season and what that means for survivors.” "You’re talking hundreds of thousands of people that will be impacted with very little resources to help," Speranza said. FEMA helps support communities before, during and after disasters. This includes helping localities with coordinating during a storm, conducting some search and rescue operations and providing funding to help communities rebuild. "The first time people see people in FEMA jackets is when we start going knocking on doors to make sure that we register people so they’re eligible for individual assistance," said who led FEMA under the last Trump administration. "But we have been there from the beginning.” Gaynor said that while the agency could be reformed, it should not be eliminated.

Bloomberg [3/31/2025 9:35 AM, Leslie Kaufman, 16228K] reports that the announcement last week from Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem that she plans to "eliminate" the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) has cast a pall over the US government’s disaster response unit. While most of the focus has been on what it would mean for disaster recovery if the agency is wound down, there’s another big issue at stake: FEMA’s foundational role in managing the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP). Any changes to the program or how it’s run can potentially disrupt the lives of millions of homeowners living in flood-prone areas. Congress created the program in 1968 because private insurance for flood risk failed; insurers simply couldn’t price policies affordably enough for most homeowners. The government stepped in and offered subsidized rates. As of the end of 2023, according to FEMA’s website, it held 4.7 million policies and $1.3 trillion in liability. While it’s unclear what exactly would happen to NFIP if FEMA were eliminated — the agency and Department of Homeland Security didn’t respond to multiple requests for comment — people who have knowledge on how the program works and depend on it are worried. "With all this talk about dismantling FEMA, the current administration doesn’t seem to have a plan for the National Flood Insurance Program. No plan to protect people from flooding, the number one disaster, is a really big concern," one former FEMA senior official, who asked that their identity be withheld for fear of retribution, tells Bloomberg Green.

USA Today [3/31/2025 8:30 AM, John Bacon, 75858K] reports more than 400,000 homes and businesses in five states were without power Monday as severe weather blasted a corridor from Texas to Michigan with damaging winds, hail and possible tornadoes. Tornadoes sightings were reported in Missouri, Tennessee and Michigan as a warm front collided with colder air. Tens of millions of residents through the Mid-Atlantic, Southeast and central Gulf Coast can expect more large hail, strong winds and tornadoes Monday, the National Weather Service warned. Two deaths Sunday were blamed on the storm. A truck driver was killed in Valparaiso, Indiana, when strong winds blew over his vehicle. And a man was killed in Cherokee County, Oklahoma, when a storm knocked a tree onto a mobile home. Extensiver power outages stretched across Michigan, Wisconsin and Indiana, along with Louisiana and Mississippi. Accuweather warned that a line of storms across the Southeast may ease Monday afternoon, a separate line may develop later in the day and advance across Virginia and the Carolinas. Richmond, Virginia, Raleigh, North Carolina, Charleston, South Carolina, and Jacksonville, Florida, are forecast to face intense storms on Monday as the storm system makes its way to the coast, AccuWeather said. A secondary storm will begin to shift out of the Rockies and across the Plains from early to midweek, AccuWeather said. The greatest chance for severe weather comes Tuesday as the storm gathers energy and becomes more organized across the Central states. Another round of tornadoes, large hail and destructive wind gusts is forecast for Wednesday − again from northeastern Texas to Michigan. "Wednesday could end up being a carbon copy of Sunday, in terms of storm position and expected intensity," said AccuWeather Senior Meteorologist Bill Deger.

Alabama Public Radio [3/31/2025 9:17 AM, Baillee Majors, 22K] reports that the National Weather Service is predicting a wave of severe weather for the morning of Monday, March 31 through the afternoon. All modes of severe weather will be possible, including tornadoes, damaging winds with gusts up to 70 mph, and large hail up to golf ball size. Rainfall amounts are predicted to be between one and two inches with higher amounts being likely in some areas. Remember, if flash flooding occurs, do not drive or walk across flooded roads. Local forecasters stress that now is the time to be "weather aware," plan ahead for a tornado warning and be prepared to take action if a tornado develops. A tornado watch means conditions are favorable for tornadoes to form. When a watch is issued, pay attention to the weather and be ready to move to a safe place if a tornado warning is issued. Tornado warnings are issued when a tornado has been sighted or is indicated on weather radar. When a warning is issued, there is imminent danger to life and property, and you should immediately seek shelter. The NWS offers a Weather Safety Guideline as a resource for residents to use during violent storms and tornadoes.

USA Today [3/31/2025 5:43 PM, James Powel] reports two students in Dothan, Alabama were hospitalized Monday when an apparent tornado struck Dothan Preparatory Academy, causing significant damage to the roof of the school’s gymnasium. Five students were injured when the storm struck just before 12:45 p.m. local time, Dothan fire officials confirmed to USA TODAY. The Montgomery Advisor − a part of the USA TODAY Network − reported that the damage occurred around 1 p.m. local time. Dothan Fire Department Deputy Chief Chris Etheredge said that the rest of the school, which serves seventh and eighth graders, suffered minor damage. Dothan City Schools Superintendent Dennis Coe said in a statement that the storm also caused damage to PASS Academy and Dothan City Virtual School. Crews are surveying the area east of the school for damage and power is being restored to the area, Etheridge told USA TODAY. The USA TODAY Power Outage Tracker shows that as of 3:30 local time, over 3,100 people in Houston County, where Dothan is located, are without power.

Chicago Tribune [3/31/2025 2:22 PM, Staff, 5269K] reports that Porter County Emergency Management Agency is encouraging county residents to report damages from Sunday’s storm after Valparaiso saw 80 mph winds, one person died when a tractor-trailer blew over at Pratt Industries, and thousands of people were left without power. The storm felled trees and powerlines alike, leaving more than 15,000 households still without power late Monday morning, according to NIPSCO. Because of the extent of the damage, the utility said it is not able to provide an estimate of when the power will be restored. "We anticipate a multi-day outage for some customers and ask you to make the necessary plans to stay safe if you are affected," the utility said on its outage webpage. The region was under a tornado watch and then a severe thunderstorm warning when winds and rain picked up shortly before 4 p.m. Sunday. Northern Indiana Public Service Company reported late Monday morning that crews continued to work to restore power after the storm, which brought reported wind speeds of up to 80 mph to the most impacted areas, including Valparaiso. Porter County Emergency Management Agency, meanwhile, has worked with the Indiana Department of Homeland Security to set up a process for reporting storm damage, according to a release.

CBS Detroit [3/31/2025 7:05 AM, Paula Wethington, 51661K] reports severe weather that pushed through Lower Michigan Sunday resulted in thousands of power outages along with three deaths in the Kalamazoo area. The fatalities happened when a tree fell on a car Sunday evening in Climax Township in Kalamazoo County. WWMT TV reported three people in the vehicle were killed, and three other family members who were also in the vehicle were injured. Other damage in West Michigan included the roof blown off Beach Elemetary School in Fruitport. Classes were canceled for Monday at that campus, the superintendent reported. The storms, which resulted in a mix of tornado warnings and severe thunderstorm warnings in mid-and lower Michigan, rolled through the lower part of southern Michigan during the evening hours. The tornado warnings issued in Michigan included one for part of Livingston County. Although there was no tornado warning issued in Wayne County, local residents might have heard emergency sirens pulled for the weather. The city of Dearborn activated its sirens for a severe thunderstorm warning as winds were possibly going to reach 70 mph, Dearborn Police said in a social media post. As of 9:10 p.m. Sunday, over 28,000 DTE Energy customers were without service. That number had improved only slightly to 22,000 customers by 6:30 a.m. Monday, according to the company’s outage map. DTE provides electricity in most of southeast Michigan; the power outages include those in Detroit, Ann Arbor, Howell and Belleville. Consumers Energy’s outage map early Monday also showed pockets of power outages for its customers in Chelsea, Plainfield and Dansville along with other locations across the state. Damage reports submitted to the National Weather Service Sunday evening included trees down in Oakland, Macomb and Lapeer counties. There are also some school closings for Monday as a result of the power outages, that list includes some Summit Academy buildings in Wayne County. Latest school closing and delays for Southeast Michigan. In the meantime, residents of Northern Lower Michigan were pummeled by an ice storm over the weekend. Freezing rain moved through that region Saturday. At one point this weekend, over 300,000 customers were without power because of the ice. Governor Gretchen Whitmer activated the State Emergency Operations Center Sunday to help with recovery efforts.

Reported similarly:
Yahoo! News [3/31/2025 8:06 AM, Frank Witsil, 52868K]

CBS Detroit [3/31/2025 5:30 PM, DeJanay Booth-Singleton, 51661K] reports the National Weather Service confirms that two tornadoes touched down in Michigan from Sunday’s severe weather. An EF-0 was identified outside Grand Rapids, Michigan. The tornado touched down in Caledonia, about 21 miles south of Grand Rapids, between 5:42 p.m. and 5:47 p.m. on Sunday, according to NWS. It traveled about 4.2 miles with 80 mph of wind speed. According to NWS, the tornado started at 100th Street and Eastern Avenue and ended at 84th Street and Hanna Lake Avenue. NWS also confirmed an EF-1 tornado in Edwardsburg, north of the Michigan-Indiana border. Officials say the tornado started in a field west of Conrad Road and continued northeast, lasting for about three minutes. Officials say the tornado damaged several homes and businesses and lifted a boat and dock from a lake. The tornado traveled at 100 mph of wind speed.

CBS Detroit [3/31/2025 4:49 PM, Elle Meyers, 51661K] reports local emergency officials in Okemos, Michigan, and the National Weather Service are still determining how much Sunday’s severe storm impacted neighborhoods. Consumers Energy reported that their crews are out working to restore power, but getting everyone back up and running could take until Wednesday. Rob Dale with Ingham County Emergency Management said officials are still working to define Sunday’s storm.

CBS Detroit [3/31/2025 1:39 PM, Paula Wethington, 51661K] reports that it could be several days before power is restored to those who were in the path of an ice storm that hit Northern Michigan during the weekend. That’s the estimate from power companies that serve the region and are dealing with the aftermath of tangled trees, wires and poles that has left some roads impassable even into Monday. The ice storm passed through northern Michigan on Saturday, pulling trees and utility pole lines down across the region. "This is an unprecedented event with widespread damage across our entire system," Presque Isle Electric & Gas company said on social media and website reports. "Many roads are still impassable. Power cannot be restored until the infrastructure is repaired." The Michigan State Police, Seventh District, said Monday that many of the roads remain impassable north of M-52; and the Michigan Department of Transportation’s maps showed that Interstate 75 northbound and southbound remained closed in Gaylord into much of Monday because of downed wires. I-75 reopened in Gaylord about 2 p.m. Monday, Michigan State Police reported. Consumers Energy indicates on its outage map that some customers in the Huron National Forest region might not be restored until Tuesday night. Great Lakes Energy is listing hundreds of individual outages on its map that continue to affect over 44,000 customers including in the Gaylord and Grayling areas as of 12:45 p.m. Monday. Presque Isle Electric & Gas company, which serves an area from Cheboygan County through Oscoda County, says over 35,000 of its customers are without power.

CBS Detroit [3/31/2025 6:08 PM, Veronica Ortega, 51661K] Video: HERE reports as the investigation continues into what caused the explosion at a Detroit apartment complex on Monday, many people outside of Detroit are wondering why they received an emergency alert about the incident during the early morning hours. For some people, the notification about a possible explosion on Littlefield Street in Detroit caused a rude awakening. "I was very upset because I didn’t fall asleep till 4 a.m. So then I was up at 6 a.m., and I’ve been up almost all night long," said Karen Srigley, of Gross Pointe. A fire department spokesperson issued a statement, saying that someone meant to use Detroit Alerts 365 to send the alert "to the zip code surrounding the incident" but instead sent it through FEMA’s Integrated Public Alert & Warning System (IPAWS). "It wasn’t in my area. I immediately started to think about my mom, my dad, my brother and other family members, and wanting to make sure they weren’t anywhere near the incident," Alosha Jackson, of Detroit, said. Detroit Alerts 365 launched in 2021. It allows the city to send targeted alerts via text, email, or phone to residents who have opted into the system. The alert sends Detroit-specific notifications about emergency situations, such as severe weather, public safety concerns, evacuation orders, notices to shelter in place and boil water advisories. Messages sent to mobile devices through IPAWS use cell towers to reach as many people as possible. "I was curious about why it went off. I mean, because I guess I was thinking that something when, when your alarm goes off like that, it’s something that you know that you need to do, you need to take cover, or you need to check into something," Kathleen Samul, of Detroit, said.

Newsweek [3/31/2025 11:59 AM, Joe Edwards, 52220K] reports that Texas Governor Greg Abbott has issued a disaster declaration for four counties in the Rio Grande Valley following severe storms that triggered widespread flooding across the region late last week. On Saturday, Abbott formally issued the declaration for Cameron, Hidalgo, Starr, and Willacy counties, enabling the state to expedite emergency resources to affected areas. The National Weather Service (NWS) had warned of the potential for severe storms and heavy flooding in the area, a release from the Texas Division of Emergency Management said. The fallout impacted homes, businesses, and agricultural operations across the area. Floodwaters overwhelmed drainage systems, submerged roadways, and cut off access to some communities, prompting rescues and emergency shelters. Abbott urged Texans to monitor the weather, make an emergency plan, and heed the guidance of state and local officials. In response to the disaster, the Texas State Emergency Operations Center was activated at Level II (Escalated Response) to coordinate aid efforts. A wide array of state agencies and resources have been deployed, including: Texas A&M Task Force 1 and 3 with swiftwater rescue squads. Texas Parks and Wildlife with helicopters and boat teams. Texas National Guard with high-profile vehicles for rescues. Texas Department of State Health Services with EMS units.

USA Today [3/31/2025 3:19 PM, Terry Collins, 75858K] reports a fast-moving wildfire has burned about 1,250 acres and prompted evacuations in multiple counties in central California, authorities said Monday. The Silver fire began Sunday afternoon north of Bishop, a city located between Yosemite National Park and Death Valley National Park in Inyo County. More than 400 personnel are on the scene at the vegetation fire. About 800 homes were issued evacuation notices, Chloe Castillo, a spokesperson for Cal Fire in San Bernardino, said Monday. The blaze is currently at 0% containment, Cal Fire and the Inyo County Sheriff’s Office reported Monday. Authorities have set up an evacuation center at a senior center in Bishop, California. The cause of the Silver Fire remains under investigation. The AP [3/31/2025 5:20 PM, Staff, 48304K] reports that the Silver Fire erupted Sunday afternoon along Route 6 in Inyo County, about 5 miles (8 km) northeast of Bishop in the Owens Valley. By Monday morning, it had churned through nearly 2 square miles (5 square km) of dry brush, according to the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection, or Cal Fire. There was no containment. The potential for 65 mph (104 kph) gusts limited flights by water-dropping helicopters and kept air tankers grounded, Cal Fire spokesperson Chloe Castillo said. “The winds are very erratic,” she said. “One minute they’re pushing north, the next they’re going east.” Evacuations were ordered for about 800 homes near the tiny communities of Laws, Chalfant and White Mountain Estates. Cal Fire said the blaze was threatening land belonging to the Bishop Paiute Tribe as well as habitats for endangered species including the Owens pupfish and desert bighorn sheep. The cause was under investigation. Inyo County, which borders on Nevada, has received very little recent precipitation and is abnormally dry, with some areas experiencing extreme drought. Similarly, most of Southern California is in moderate to extreme drought, according to the U.S. Drought Monitor. NBC News [3/31/2025 8:40 AM, Marlene Lenthang, 44742K] reports strong winds and gusts reaching up to 35 mph fueled the fire, which "created hazardous conditions, grounding some firefighting aircraft and complicating containment efforts," according to Cal Fire. The cause of the blaze remains under investigation, and an evacuation center has been set up at Bishop Senior Center in Bishop. The National Weather Service has issued a high wind warning for parts of central California from 8 a.m. to 9 p.m. PT Monday. Southwest winds of 25 to 35 mph and gusts up to 65 mph are forecast for the area, which could lead to further fire spread. It comes as dangerous fires have been burning across the country in the past weeks. Blazes exploded in South Carolina earlier this month and continue to burn. South Carolina state officials are expected to lift a statewide burn ban for most counties Monday morning. However, five counties —Greenville, Horry, Oconee, Pickens and Spartanburg — face ongoing wildfire threats and will remain under restrictions. There, the Table Rock Fire spans nearly 11,000 acres in South Carolina and 574 acres in neighboring North Carolina, and is at 9% containment, according to the South Carolina Forestry Commission’s report Sunday. Meanwhile, the Persimmon Ridge Fire burned more than 2,000 acres and is at 24% containment. Mandatory evacuations remain in place for some residents of Greenville County. These fires are fueled by dry vegetation and downed timber left in the wake of Hurricane Helene.

Washington Times [3/31/2025 4:00 PM, Valerie Richardson, 1814K] reports Commander and Major weren’t the first Biden family pets with a penchant for gnawing on U.S. Secret Service agents. A third family German shepherd, Champ, bit at least one agent and attacked numerous others while Joseph R. Biden was serving as vice president under President Barack Obama, according to documents newly released by Judicial Watch. The latest disclosures buttress one of the least flattering legacies of the Biden presidency: that Mr. Biden insisted on bringing his pet German shepherds to live with him while under Secret Service protection despite their record of repeatedly attacking and terrorizing staff, which is now known to predate his presidency.

Yahoo! News [3/31/2025 9:38 PM, Jack Shea, 52868K] reports Westlake police teamed up with federal authorities to apprehend members of an international theft ring that uses credit card skimmers to access the financial information of customers at stores and gas stations. Investigators said it was on March 22 that members of the ring set their sights on the Market District store in Westlake. Investigators said store surveillance video showed two men at the checkout who were working together. While one of the suspects distracted the clerk, the other man inserted a credit card skimmer into the point-of-sale terminal. "They’re very slick. You can tell they’re practiced at this. They’ve probably done it hundreds of times," Westlake Police Captain Jerry Vogel told FOX 8. However, the two suspects did not know that during a routine check of equipment, employees later discovered the skimming device and notified federal authorities, who in turn sought the assistance of Westlake police. The suspects’ rented SUV was identified and, according to Vogel, "our people used the technology we have on hand and one of the things is the license plate readers. They put that license plate in our license plate reader to alert us if this car ever comes back in the city.” Investigators said days later, members of the theft ring returned to the store to attempt to retrieve credit card information from the skimming device. Surveillance video showed one of the suspects trying in vain to use his smart phone to access financial data from the skimmer. "He knows that skimmer got detected by somebody, but he doesn’t know how close law enforcement is to him yet, but you can see he’s nervous about it," Vogel said. A license plate reader alerted police to the nearby location of the same SUV used earlier by the members of the ring. Police arrested two suspects, who according to the Department of Homeland Security, are from eastern Europe and entered the U.S. through Canada. Police said one of them is a Romanian citizen, Lazar Petru-Calin. Federal authorities told Westlake police detectives that the 39-year-old was being sought by Interpol and they called his arrest "catching a unicorn.” "Something that was surprising to our officers was that he had a red notice out for his arrest, meaning that his home country, Romania, wanted him in custody. He had a four-year prison sentence hanging over his head," Vogel said.

SeaPower Magazine [3/31/2025 6:36 PM, Staff, 23K] reports the Coast Guard has increased its operational presence near the southwest border between U.S. and Mexico to enhance border security, immigration enforcement and to protect the territorial integrity of the United States.  Coast Guard District Eleven (D11) has expanded its posture from previous steady state counter-illicit-maritime-activities to gain full operational control of the Southwest Maritime Border. Since Jan. 21, D11 has tripled its forces operating on the southern border and coordinated Coast Guard surface and air presence with partners to detect, deter, and interdict alien and drug smuggling ventures. D11 diverted aircraft, cutters, small boats and crews under its operational control to the southern border, increasing the illegal alien apprehension rates by 75% with multiple smuggling attempts continuing to occur each night. The Coast Guard remains committed to a persistent operational presence to ensure border security and territorial integrity of the United States. Irregular maritime migration aboard unseaworthy or overloaded vessels is always dangerous, and often deadly. D11 remains steadfast in its commitment to saving lives and discouraging anyone from taking to the sea in ways that are unsafe and illegal. 

News Nation [4/1/2025 12:14 PM, Biran Entin, 7K] reports as illegal land crossings at the southern border have declined, the Trump administration has shifted part of its focus to maritime borders, where the U.S. Coast Guard is facing persistent smuggling activity. Coast Guard crews operating near San Diego are intercepting smugglers using increasingly organized operations to transport migrants and contraband into the United States by sea, officials said Monday. Coast Guard personnel employ a three-step approach when confronting suspected smuggling vessels: issuing verbal warnings, firing warning shots and when necessary, using pepper balls and disabling engines. Chief Peter Nelson, officer in charge for Coast Guard Station San Diego, described escalating confrontations with smugglers. “The majority of the time, they do comply with what we need them to do,” Nelson told NewsNation. “But there have been some incidents where they have taken evasive actions with their vessel, where they’ve driven their vessel into the side of our boat. They have thrown objects at us. They’ve thrown tools at us.” To address the persistent maritime smuggling, officials have deployed additional resources, including Coast Guard crews from Hawaii, a helicopter unit from San Francisco and a Navy destroyer.

Marine Link [3/31/2025 3:05 PM, Staff, 94K] reports the crew of U.S. Coast Guard Cutter Stone offloaded approximately 45,600 pounds of illicit narcotics worth more than $517.5 million at Port Everglades, Thursday. The seized contraband was the result of 14 interdictions in international waters of the Eastern Pacific Ocean, and 35 suspected smugglers were transferred ashore to face federal prosecution in U.S. courts. The following assets and crews were involved in the interdiction operations: U.S. Coast Guard Cutter Stone (WMSL 758), U.S. Coast Guard Cutter Mohawk (WMEC 913), U.S. Coast Guard Helicopter Interdiction Tactical Squadron (HITRON) Jacksonville, U.S. Coast Guard Tactical Law Enforcement Team-Pacific (PAC-TACLET), Joint Interagency Task Force-South (JIATFS), Eleventh Coast Guard District. Detecting and interdicting illicit drug traffickers on the high seas involves interagency and international coordination. Joint Interagency Task Force-South, in Key West, conducts the detection and monitoring of aerial and maritime transit of illegal drugs. Once an interdiction becomes imminent, the law enforcement phase of the operation begins, and control of the operation shifts to the U.S. Coast Guard for the interdiction and apprehension phases. Interdictions in the Eastern Pacific Ocean are performed by members of the U.S. Coast Guard under the authority and control of the Eleventh Coast Guard District, headquartered in Alameda, California. The Coast Guard continues increased operations to interdict, seize and disrupt transshipments of cocaine and other bulk illicit drugs by sea. These drugs fuel and enable cartels and transnational criminal organizations to produce and traffic illegal fentanyl, threatening the United States.

Martha’s Vinyard Times [3/31/2025 3:05 PM, Eunki Seonwoo, 4330K] reports a U.S. Coast Guard vessel briefly delayed a Steamship Authority vessel’s departure from Woods Hole Monday afternoon. Sean Driscoll, Steamship Authority communications director, confirmed with the Times that a disabled Coast Guard vessel blocked one of its ferries, the Woods Hole, from making its trip to Vineyard Haven at 1:35 pm and led to a roughly half-hour delay. The Coast Guard vessel has since moved and the Woods Hole made its departure a little after 2:10 pm. It is uncertain what was wrong with the Coast Guard vessel. A Coast Guard representative was not immediately available for comment.

CBS 6 Albany [3/31/25 5:47 ON, Felix Day] reports On March 27, 2025, a coordinated rescue effort by the United States Coast Guard and local agencies successfully evacuated a 23-year-old crewman with spinal injuries from a vessel on the Hudson River. The incident occurred near Catskill, New York, as the freight vessel SHENG PING HAI was traveling south from Albany to Barranquilla, Colombia. The Coast Guard Sector New York Command Center received the emergency report at approximately 6:50 PM and consulted with an on-call flight surgeon, who recommended the evacuation. The Ulster County Sheriff’s Office was contacted for assistance in the maritime medical evacuation. Deputies from the Ulster County Sheriff’s Office, along with sailors from the Coast Guard Cutter WIRE and members of the Diaz Memorial Ambulance Service, coordinated the rescue. The Sheriff’s vessel M27 maneuvered alongside the SHENG PING HAI, which continued its course on the river. The injured fourth assistant engineer from China was carefully lowered in a Stokes litter from the freight vessel onto M27.

Reported similarly:
Mid Hudson News [3/31/2025 8:46 PM, Staff, 222K]

NBC 2 Charleston [3/31/2025 8:55 AM, Time Renaud, 208K] reports crews rescued two people and two dogs from a disabled boat in waters off Georgetown County over the weekend. Officials with the U.S. Coast Guard said the 14-foot boat became disabled Saturday near Cat Island, which is located along the Intracoastal Waterway at the mouth of Winyah Bay. A crew from U.S. Coast Guard Air Station Savannah responded to the disabled vessel and rescued the two people and two dogs. They were taken to Georgetown Airport “without reported medical concerns,” officials said.

Yahoo! News [3/31/2025 8:55 AM, Tim Renaud, 52868K] reports that crews rescued two people and two dogs from a disabled boat in waters off Georgetown County over the weekend. Officials with the U.S. Coast Guard said the 14-foot boat became disabled Saturday near Cat Island, which is located along the Intracoastal Waterway at the mouth of Winyah Bay. A crew from U.S. Coast Guard Air Station Savannah responded to the disabled vessel and rescued the two people and two dogs. They were taken to Georgetown Airport "without reported medical concerns," officials said.

CBS 12 West Palm Beach [3/31/2025 4:09 PM, Skyler Shepard] reports an urgent search is underway for a missing man after his boat was discovered off the western Florida coast on Monday. The U.S. Coast Guard (USCG) said its crews and partner agencies are searching for 69-year-old Russell Trudeau after his 17-foot boat was found off the coast of Piney Point in Manatee County. Trudeau reportedly departed from the Palmetto area, not far from where his boat was found, according to the USCG.

Reported similarly:
ABC 28 Tampa [3/31/2025 7:10 PM, Frances Lin]
ABC 7 Sarasota [3/31/2025 6:52 PM, Staff]
NCB 8 Tampa [3/31/2025 6:44 PM, Katlyn Fernandez, 200K]
CBS 10 St. Petersburg [3/31/25 11:440 PM, Andrea Chu, 799K]

myRGV.com [3/31/2025 1:11 PM, Staff, 206K] reports the Coast Guard detained eight Mexican fishermen Friday after they were spotted illegally fishing for red snappers off of South Padre Island. Boat crews from the Coast Guard Station Padre Island with the help of the Coast Guard Sector Corpus Christi Command Center watch standers and its air station aircrews were able to detect and intercept two lanchas north of the Maritime Boundary Line. The fishermen were taken into custody and transferred over to the U.S. Customs and Border Protection personnel for processing. The coast guard seized approximately 150 pounds of red snapper, fishing gear, and other equipment found on the lanchas which were also seized.

ABC 2 Portland [3/31/2025 7:06 PM, Staff]reports a girls was rescued in Seaside after being swept out to sea. The U.S. Coast Guard tells KATU it happened around 7:00 Saturday night. They did know have details about her condition. It is also unclear how old she is or how she ended up in the water. [Editorial note: consult video at source link]

Border Report [3/31/2025 8:27 PM, Salvador Rivera, 117K] reports members of the news media got a first-hand look at how U.S. Coast Guard personnel are stopping vessels suspected of transporting migrants. It took place during a simulation involving one boat chasing another on San Diego Bay. Inclement weather and low visibility kept the event from happening on the Pacific Ocean as planned. The officers involved tried to make the interdiction as realistic as possible as they tried to get the boat to yield with sirens and flashing lights. When that didn’t work, they fired pepper balls at a dummy named "Oscar" who was the make believe driver of the boat transporting a group of migrants. As Oscar finally slowed down, officers drew their guns and secured the "non-compliant boat.” "We’ve essentially tripled the amount of Coast Guard assets on the southern border," said Peter Nelson, Officer in Charge of Coast Guard Station San Diego. "This has happened in the last two months.” According to figures provided by the U.S. Coast Guard, the number of stops made on vessels carrying unlawful migrants has remained steady. Statistics show that for the current fiscal year, which began Oct. 1, 2024, there have been 260 to date. For fiscal year 2024, there were 561. The year before there were 703. "It’s been pretty consistent over the last few years," Nelson said. "The one thing that has changed is the amount of boats and aircraft in the area to help detect and in the interdiction of folks coming across.” Nelson said the Coast Guard is one of several federal agencies working to prevent migrant smuggling on the water. "We have additional helicopters and fix-wing aircraft as well as working with partner agencies such as Customs and Border Protection that is flying more flights giving us air cover," he said. "The U.S. Navy has a vessel that has a Coast Guard law enforcement team on board right now helping us secure the border as well.”

ABC 10 San Diego [3/31/2025 8:04 PM, Staff] reports the U.S. Coast Guard says it’s been able to stop more undocumented immigrants from getting into California by boat. Thanks to recent support from the federal government. [Editorial note: consult video at source link]

Telemundo [3/31/2025 7:42 PM, Natanya Faitelson, 41K] reports crews from the U.S. Coast Guard and Navy The U.S. rescued 18 people from a damaged, drifting-dead boat that sank in international waters about 50 miles southwest of San Diego over the weekend, authorities said Monday. The 35-foot vessel was sinking when someone on board issued a distress signal shortly before 8 a.m. on Sunday, according to the U.S. Coast Guard. U.S. (USCG). The Coast Guard sent an MH-60 Jayhawk helicopter to help the stranded people, and the crew of the Navy destroyer USS Spruance headed to the area and threw a pneumatic boat to help. The staff rescued the victims - all but one they were not American citizens - from the sea and took them aboard the Spruance. After that, the crew moved them to San Diego Sector Coast Guard headquarters on two flights. Spruance, an Arleigh Burke-class guided missile destroyer, departed from the San Diego Naval Base earlier this month to strengthen U.S. national security, according to the U.S. Navy. U.S. The San Diego Union Tribune [3/31/2025 7:41 PM, Christian Martinez, 1682K] reports that the 35-foot boat was found in international waters about 50 miles southwest of San Diego. The 18 occupants of the boat were loaded into an inflatable Navy boat, then airlifted to Coast Guard Sector San Diego. The occupants were transferred to the Department of Homeland Security. ABC 10 San Diego [3/31/2025 5:21 PM, Pat Mueller] reports that the aircrew made two trips to transport all the passengers.

Reported similarly:
NBC 7 San Diego [3/31/2025 6:53 PM, Natanya Faitelson]
FOX 5 San Diego [3/31/2025 7:53 PM, Domenick Candelieri]
89.5 FM San Diego [3/31/2025 7:06 PM, Staff, 328K]

DVIDS [4/1/2025 12:05 AM, Chief Warrant Officer Sara Muir, 777K] reports while en route to Honolulu for scheduled drydock maintenance, the USCGC Frederick Hatch (WPC 1143) crew turned an unexpected weather delay into an opportunity to reinforce U.S. security commitment to Allies and Indo-Pacific partners during a port call in Majuro, Republic of the Marshall Islands (RMI), from March 18 to 22, 2025. Originally diverted to Majuro due to adverse weather conditions, the Frederick Hatch crew seized the chance to engage with the Marine Nationale, the French Navy, frigate FS Prairial (F731), and local stakeholders, showcasing the U.S. Coast Guard’s adaptability and dedication to fostering collaborative operational relationships across the region—all while making the most of resources during a routine transit. From March 18 to 19, The Frederick Hatch crew joined Prairial members for a reception hosted by the French crew, attended by the U.S. ambassador to the Marshall Islands, the French defense attaché to the Philippines, and the Australian maritime advisor to the RMI. The event provided a platform to network with key regional partners and reinforce U.S. support for maintaining a secure and prosperous Indo-Pacific. The following day, Frederick Hatch’s team welcomed Prairial’s crew aboard for familiarization, sharing operational insights and strengthening professional ties.

Yahoo! News [3/31/2025 6:22 AM, Kelly Sullivan, 52868K] reports attacks directed at Tesla vehicles and dealerships are growing—so much that the FBI has created a task force to crack down on the crimes. There were two incidents over the weekend locally that police are investigating. Boston police are searching for a suspect who they say vandalized Teslas and also harassed people in the Fenway neighborhood. BPD released surveillance images showing an individual they believe is likely connected to multiple incidents of vandalism and harassment in the area of Hemenway and Gainsborough Streets. Police say the incidents happened between 5 and 7 am during mid-March-- primarily targeting Tesla vehicles. Over the weekend in Watertown, a couple of people were hurt during a Tesla demonstration at a dealership. According to police, while protestors were gathered outside, a black pickup truck drove over the curb and toward the protestors. That’s when one of the side mirrors of the truck struck two people. They weren’t seriously injured, but police are investigating. There were many demonstrations across the country recently in protest of Tesla’s owner, Elon Musk and his leadership of DOGE. The Justice Department says it will be cracking down on the attacks against Tesla, with Attorney General Pam Bondi describing the attacks as ‘domestic terrorism’. [Editorial note: consult video at source link]

Yahoo! News [3/31/2025 10:44 PM, Denise Dillon, 52868K] reports a 17-year-old Acworth student was arrested for making terroristic threats. It happened at the North Cobb Christian School. Acworth police say they were notified by the FBI around 10:30 Monday morning that a threat was made on Snapchat to shoot up North Cobb Christian School. The school was placed on lockdown as police raced to the school campus. "The threat stated she wanted to shoot up the school. There was no direct threat made to any particular person or teacher," said Acworth Police Sgt. Eric Mistretta. Police say there was a photo along with the threat. "She took a selfie with the snapchat and added a caption with the selfie that she wanted to shoot up the school," said Sgt. Mistretta. Police worked with school administrators who were able to identify the student as 17-year-old Ella Sever. She is in the Cobb County jail charged with terroristic threats. School officials say no weapons or items of concern were found on the student or on campus. In a statement, school officials wrote: "The student will no longer be enrolled at north Cobb Christian school and will not be allowed on campus. We ask for you to please keep this student and family in your prayers". Acworth police say it’s important for parents to talk to their children and make sure they know every threat is taken seriously. "Every time we receive a threat like this on Snapchat or any social media we do look into it and investigate very thoroughly, and consequences will be taken against any kind of threats if they’re joking or not joking," said Sgt. Mistretta.

Yahoo! News [3/31/2025 7:33 PM, Puneet Bsanti, 52868K] reports that, in the aftermath of a mass shooting that left two people dead and four injured in Pierce County on Saturday, prosecutors have charged a 17-year-old boy with murder. Prosecutors charged the teenager with two counts of first-degree murder and second-degree unlawful possession of a firearm, court records show. The teen has been charged automatically as an adult due to his age and the severity of the charges. During the teen’s arraignment on Monday at Pierce County Juvenile Court, Judge Joseph Evans ordered his name not be released by the news media. That was in response to a defense attorney’s argument that there are issues regarding the shooter’s identification. There are also concerns of retaliation. The teen’s attorney, Michael Stewart, referenced charging documents that said a witness came forward to identify the shooter through the an Instagram account but did not know his name. Documents show detectives believe the user of that Instagram account is the 17-year-old. "It’s not my client. It’s a young man who looks a lot like my client," Stewart argued. A plea of not guilty was entered on the teen’s behalf. He is being held on a $2 million bail. During the hearing, Stewart said that "a number" of the teen’s family members and mentors were in the court’s gallery. The identifications of the two males who had been killed have not yet been released, pending confirmation from the Pierce County Medical Examiner’s Office. A detective was dispatched at 12:55 a.m. to the 17000 block of 25th Avenue Court East near Spanaway for a homicide investigation. There was a large party in the area with about 40 to 50 mostly young people in attendance, according to charging documents.

Yahoo! News [3/31/2025 10:17 PM, Io Dodds, 52868K] reports U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi has said she intends to seek a 20-year prison sentence against a Colorado man accused of firebombing a Tesla dealership. Cooper Jo Frederick, 24, was arrested in Fort Collins earlier this month on suspicion of throwing an incendiary device between two vehicles outside a dealership in nearby Loveland on March 7. It was one of a spate of recent incidents in which Tesla vehicles or buildings — not just in the USA, but also abroad — have been vandalized, defaced with Nazi symbols, or set ablaze, apparently in protest against Elon Musk’s role in the Trump administration. Bondi has vowed to treat these attacks as "domestic terrorism", while Musk and Trump have both claimed without evidence that the incidents were coordinated. So far, no one appears to have been hurt in such incidents. "I’ve made it clear: if you take part in the wave of domestic terrorism against Tesla properties, we will find you, arrest you, and put you behind bars," Bondi said on Musk’s social network X on Monday as she announced federal charges against Frederick. "All of these cases are a serious public threat to public safety. Therefore, there will be no negotiating; we are seeking 20 years in prison... "Let this be a warning: you can run, but you cannot hide. Justice is coming.” — Attorney General Pamela Bondi (@AGPamBondi) March 31, 2025. As well as Frederick, federal prosecutors have charged 42-year-old Lucy Grace Nelson with trying to use Molotov cocktails to light Teslas on fire in Loveland. Adam Matthew Lansky, 41, is accused of throwing eight Molotov cocktails at a Tesla dealership in Salem, Oregon, while armed with a suppressed semi-automatic rifle. A third individual, Daniel Brendan Kurt Clarke-Pounder, allegedly "wrote profane messages against President Trump" and lit Tesla charging stations on fire in Charleston, South Carolina. Despite Musk’s claims, law enforcement officials and terrorism experts have said that there is no evidence so far that the attacks are coordinated.

FOX News [3/31/2025 11:06 AM, Julia Bonavita, 46189K] reports that police are searching for two suspects after a pair of Teslas were vandalized in separate incidents in a California community as attacks against the vehicles ramp up throughout the country. A Tesla Cybertruck was parked in a neighborhood driveway when the suspect, clad in black clothing with a white face mask, approached the home and began casing the surrounding area around 4:20 a.m. on Saturday, according to the Novato Police Department. Security footage shows the suspect returning to the home approximately one hour later, carrying a concrete rock and covering one of the truck’s cameras with duct tape. The suspect proceeded to smash the windshield with the concrete rock and slash all four of the Cybertruck’s tires, police said. Before leaving, the suspect wrote a handwritten note to the owner, reading "replace all tires, unsafe to drive." "To come to my house and plan an attack like that, that person’s dangerous and needs to face consequences for what they’ve done," Jason Bedell, the owner of the Cybertruck, told KTVU. "I’m a little [shaken] up right now, and I’m concerned that they may possibly come back, and it’s not a good feeling, having my family here, my young son." Bedell is offering a $25,000 reward for any information leading to the suspect’s arrest. [Editorial note: consult video at source link]

Wall Street Journal [3/31/2025 8:16 PM, Natalie Andrews and Alexander Ward] reports President Trump is planning to visit Saudi Arabia, Qatar and potentially the United Arab Emirates in the coming weeks, though he said that plans are still being finalized. “I have a very good relationship with the Middle East,” Trump said on Monday in the Oval Office. On timing, he said, “It could be next month, maybe a little bit later.” Trump said that he was good friends with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman. Riyadh was one of the places Trump visited during his first term in 2017, when the kingdom announced a series of weapons sales and commercial deals that the U.S. valued at around $350 billion total. “They’ve agreed to spend close to a trillion dollars in American companies, which to me means jobs,” Trump said of the Saudi government. The trip plans were earlier reported by Axios. A White House official said the plans weren’t yet settled. “An opportunity for international travel for the president is something that is being looked at. We don’t yet have a specific plan, and we will provide that information when it is official.” The Middle East has become increasingly important to Trump’s agenda. Saudi Arabia is hosting U.S.-brokered talks between Ukraine and Russia, while Riyadh also leads the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries oil consortium. In January, Trump told the World Economic Forum that he wanted OPEC to lower prices so that it could harm Russia’s economy and potentially stifle the continuing war. Qatar, meanwhile, is a mediator for the U.S. in efforts to stop the war in Gaza between Israel and Hamas and secure the release of hostages. Qatar also has helped the U.S. bring back wrongfully detained Americans from Afghanistan and hosts an important U.S. air base, Al Udeid.

The Hill [3/31/2025 6:58 PM, Rebecca Beitsch, 12829K] reports Democrats on the House Intelligence Committee on Monday requested an independent assessment into Trump administration officials’ use of Signal to discuss an airstrike, asking that Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard initiate such a process and delegate it to another official. The letter calls for a damage assessment of the fallout related to the chat, something Intelligence Committee ranking member Jim Himes (D-Conn.) noted requires Gabbard to initiate a probe and turn over the contents of the underlying material that was disclosed. The Monday letter cites reporting from The Wall Street Journal that Israel provided key intelligence used as the basis for the strike, and that the ally was upset that the contents of the chat became public when a journalist for The Atlantic was inadvertently added to the group. "The U.S. ally complained to the United States that Mr. Waltz’s texts had become public. The Wall Street Journal’s reporting, if accurate, is deeply concerning. These developments underscore the need for the intelligence community, under your leadership, to conduct a parallel inquiry into the chat," Himes wrote to Gabbard on Monday.

Axios [4/1/2025 1:31 AM, Rebecca Falconer, 13163K] reports the Trump administration has taken action to ensure a Signal group chat that inadvertently included The Atlantic editor-in-chief Jeffrey Goldberg can never happen again, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said Monday. There have been growing calls from lawmakers on both sides of the aisle for an investigation into the Signal scandal, with Democrats on the House Intelligence Committee the latest to call for an independent probe in a letter to Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard on Monday. "As the president has made it very clear, Mike Waltz continues to be an important part of his national security team and this case has been closed here at the White House as far as we are concerned," Leavitt told reporters on Monday. "There have been steps made to ensure that something like that can obviously never happen again, and we’re moving forward," added Leavitt, without elaborating further on the action taken.

CNN [3/31/2025 1:38 PM, Chris Isidore, 908K] reports that White House aide Peter Navarro said Sunday that he expects President Donald Trump’s tariffs to bring in $6 trillion in revenue in the next decade, which could amount to the largest tax hike in US history. Even when adjusting for inflation, that amount would be triple the tax increase put in place in 1942 to pay the cost of fighting World War II. Navarro, Trump’s senior counselor for trade and manufacturing, insists it’s not a tax increase but a tax cut — echoing the Trump administration’s repeated belief that tariffs will be paid not by American consumers but by businesses in other countries or the countries themselves. "The message is that tariffs are tax cuts, tariffs are jobs, tariffs are national security," Navarro said on Fox News Sunday. "Tariffs are great for America. They will make America great again." But most economists say US-imposed tariffs are paid by American businesses and consumers in the form of higher prices on imported goods, not paid by foreigners. Trump plans to announce additional tariffs on Wednesday, which he has dubbed "Liberation Day," on all manner of imported goods as retaliation for what he sees as unfair barriers to US exports to other countries. Trump has already announced tariffs on all goods from China, Mexico and Canada, and this week a 25% tariff on all imported cars is set to take effect.

New York Times [3/31/2025 5:48 PM, Matthew Cullen, 145325K] reports President Trump is planning to gather his cabinet in the Rose Garden this week to announce a sweeping plan for global tariffs that he promised would correct decades of unfair trade relationships and stop other countries from “ripping off” the U.S. He has taken to referring to Wednesday, when the tariffs are set to be unveiled, as “Liberation Day.” It remains unclear, however, whether Trump’s plan will result in higher levies on other nations, lower ones, or a mix — or what exactly his goal is. Many economists expect Americans will pay higher prices, and investors also appear uncertain about the economic impact of the plan: The S&P 500 rose slightly today, but finished March with its worst monthly decline in more than two years. Trump has described the tariffs as a negotiating tool that could force other countries to drop their trade barriers, ultimately resulting in lower tariffs. But he has also talked about the tariffs as a way to raise revenue and shift supply chains back to the U.S., which would be a result of sustained higher tariffs. The president’s supporters have pushed both conflicting goals, but ultimately the president will decide a path forward. Trump and his allies have occasionally acknowledged that the tariffs would likely, at least temporarily, impose additional costs on consumers. They are hoping to sell the public on a provocative idea: Cheap stuff is not the American dream.

USA Today [4/1/2025 5:04 AM, Dian Zhang, 75858K] reports the U.S. imported more goods in January than in any other month since the government started tracking the data as people raced to stock up in advance of President Donald Trump’s announced tariffs. The import surge was driven by sharp increases from the United States’ three largest trading partners, China, Canada and Mexico, according to a USA TODAY analysis of recently released U.S. Census trade data. Together, those nations provide nearly half of the foreign goods consumed here, and they are key targets of tariffs that went into effect last month. More tariffs, including a 25% tariff on autos and auto parts, are scheduled to begin April 2. "People are trying to get imports into the country before the tariffs go on," said Marcus Noland, Executive Vice President and Director of Studies at the Peterson Institute for International Economics, a think tank based in Washington, D.C. Noland was among them. His son has a nut allergy. Anticipating a rise in the price of the Canadian-made, nut-free granola he buys, Noland said he stocked up. "I had anticipated the tariff and had already bought extra granola," he said. On March 6, after Canadian tariffs took effect, he received a notice from Amazon: The price of one variety he buys had spiked by more than 40%. Decisions like Noland’s add up. The Census Bureau calculated that the U.S. took in more than $320 billion in "imports for consumption," in January, according to USA TODAY’s analysis. That means the goods cleared customs and were ready for immediate consumption here. Since the bureau began collecting the monthly data in 2002, the previous high was $295 billion in March of 2022. Before implementing tariffs last month, Trump had repeatedly announced plans to impose 25% duties on Canadian and Mexican goods, while initially proposing 10% tariffs on Chinese imports before raising them to 20%. The U.S. saw a notable increase in imports from all three countries in January 2025, compared to the year before: Shipments from China rebounded to $41 billion, a 16% increase compared to the value in the same month last year, despite years of trade tensions.

VOX [3/31/2025 6:30 AM, Joshua Keating, 6379K] reports that, over the past decade, the synthetic drug fentanyl has devastated the United States, killing more than a quarter of a million Americans, making it, according to some officials, the deadliest drug in US history. And over the past two months, even amid signs that the fentanyl crisis is starting to wane, the drug has also taken on an unexpectedly prominent role in American national security and economic policy. The initial justification for the off-again, on-again tariffs on Canada and Mexico — as well as tariffs on China, which are in effect — cited what the White House said was these countries’ failure at "stopping poisonous fentanyl and other drugs from flowing into our country." President Donald Trump agreed to delay the tariffs on Mexico and Canada after they promised steps to address the crisis, but they are once again scheduled to take effect this week. The administration is also reportedly preparing an executive order that would designate fentanyl as a "weapon of mass destruction," potentially paving the way for military action against drug cartels in Mexico. Trump talked repeatedly about the possibility of using military force on Mexican soil during his campaign and has already designated several cartels as "foreign terrorist organizations." In recent congressional testimony, Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard cited fentanyl as a top threat to US national security. Whether or not threatening tariffs and military action will actually stop fentanyl from entering the United States, Trump is correct about one thing: fentanyl is a global issue, and it takes a complex global shadow economy — involving labs in China and cartels in Mexico — to get these deadly chemicals onto US streets. He made the fentanyl epidemic a major issue during his campaign, and anecdotally at least, his tough message seems to have resonated with families and communities affected by the drug. But now that he’s in office, critics say his policies are unlikely to keep Americans from dying from fentanyl use, and in some cases, may be counterproductive — and that fentanyl is being used as a cover to provide a security rationale for Trump’s trade and immigration policies. Fentanyl is a powerful synthetic opioid, meaning it is created in a lab from precursor chemicals, rather than being derived from a plant like traditional opium. It comes in a wide number of chemical variants. It was originally created by Belgian chemists in 1959 as an alternative to morphine, the dominant painkiller at the time. Fentanyl works faster, is more powerful, and less likely to cause nausea. It quickly caught on as an operating room anesthetic for surgery, and is still widely used for legitimate medical purposes today. It is also extremely addictive, and its recreational use was placed under international control in the mid-1960s. Fentanyl first turned up as a street drug in California in the late 1970s, where it was misleadingly marketed by dealers as a purer form of heroin called "China white.”

Boise State Public Radio [3/31/2025 12:30 PM, Stephen Fowler and Jenna McLaughlin, 78K] reports that the DOGE staffer who resigned from his post over old racist tweets — and who broke data-sharing rules, an audit found — has been rehired to work with sensitive data at several federal agencies. The staffer is Marko Elez, a Department of Labor employee detailed to the DOGE entity within the White House, according to a Saturday court filing. It says the Labor Department is aware of four other agencies, including the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), where Elez is also detailed or employed. The court filing provides an accounting of the access Elez and other DOGE employees have inside certain sensitive and secure databases. And it comes as federal judges in other cases have found the Elon Musk-led effort has likely broken the law and has been largely unable to explain why it needs such sweeping data access. The filing is in response to a lawsuit filed by labor unions and nonprofits, which are seeking more information about the Trump administration staffers who’ve been reported as part of DOGE. U.S. District Judge John Bates, a George W. Bush appointee, has so far declined to block DOGE from its work inside the Department of Labor, HHS and the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, but has ordered more discovery into how the White House entity has operated.

Federal News Network [3/31/2025 1:37 PM, Eric White, 1089K] reports that the Office of Personnel Management is reminding agencies of the procedures for conducting a reduction in force (RIF). New guidance from OPM details the processes involved in a RIF, like notice periods, benefits and employee appeals. The guidance comes as agencies are taking further steps toward conducting their RIF plans. The efforts will lead to large workforce cuts and possible agency relocations. The Trump administration is also making some significant changes to the standard RIF process. OPM said, for instance, that agencies should ignore any collective bargaining provisions that interfere with RIFs. Federal unions have been quick to push back against President Trump’s move canceling many collective bargaining agreements. The American Federation of Government Employees, National Treasury Employees Union and National Federation of Federal Employees all say they plan to immediately sue the Trump administration over last week’s executive order. Trump’s order took the initial steps to cancel majority of agencies’ collective bargaining agreements. The White House said that the president has the authority to remove collective bargaining for any agency that deals in “national security.” But federal unions quickly called the move illegal and are seeking immediate legal action. Those lawsuits are expected in the coming weeks. [Editorial note: consult audio at source link]

Politico [3/31/2025 4:51 PM, Josh Gerstein, Kyle Cheney] reports the Taliban’s former ambassador to Spain remains detained by U.S. immigration officials at Dulles International Airport after a federal judge declined his petition for immediate release on Monday. The Afghan diplomat, Mohammad Rahim Wahidi, is a lawful permanent U.S. resident living in Sterling, Virginia with his wife, Mary Shakeri-Wahidi, a U.S. citizen, according to a court filing by his lawyer, who expressed fears his client was caught up in a Trump administration crackdown on immigrants deemed to be at odds with U.S. foreign policy. He was detained at Dulles on Saturday after arriving on a flight from Turkey. However, Wahidi’s case appears distinct from some of the other cases in which lawful residents and visa holders have been targeted for deportation over their political advocacy. A petition filed Sunday in U.S. District Court in Alexandria links Wahidi’s detention to criminal charges his brother-in-law, Farhad Shakeri, faces in a New York federal court accusing him of involvement in a plot to assassinate a U.S.-based journalist critical of Iran’s government. Two men connected to the Russian mob were convicted on March 20 of a second Iran-backed attempt to assassinate that journalist, Masih Alinejad.

Reported similarly:
Axios [3/31/2025 7:34 PM, Sareen Habeshian, 13163K]

Newsweek [4/1/2025 4:19 AM, Amira El-Fekki, 52220K] reports Qatar and the United Arab Emirates have joined Israeli and U.S. forces to participate in the ongoing multinational air exercise Iniochos 2025 at the Andravida Air Base, Greece. Newsweek has reached out to the Hellenic Air Force, the Israel Defense Force, and the governments of Qatar and the U.A.E. for comment. The participation of these countries together highlights a significant realignment in regional military cooperation. Amid escalating Middle East conflicts—with U.S. rhetoric rising against Iran and attacks on its Houthi allies in Yemen— the exercise signals strengthening security ties between Arab states and Israel. The United States is participating with F-16 fighters and KC-46 and KC-135 refueling aircraft. Israel has deployed a G-550 aircraft. The UAE is contributing with Mirage 2000-9 jets, and Qatar has sent F-15 fighters, according to the Hellenic Air Force (HAF). The exercise, which runs from March 31 to April 11, 2025, includes a diverse array of air forces from allied and partner nations, including France, Italy, Spain and India. Iniochos 2025 reportedly marked Qatar’s first participation in this specific exercise alongside Israel. While both nations took part in the U.S.-hosted Red Flag exercise in 2016, their military cooperation has been limited due to historical tensions surrounding the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Qatar has so far opposed normalization with Israel, unlike those such as the UAE and Bahrain which signed the Abraham Accords. However, its recent participation could be seen as a de facto step toward cooperation. Qatar – which hosts a significant U.S. military presence – supports Palestinian factions but plays a mediating role between Israel and Hamas, alongside the U.S. and Egypt.

AP [3/31/2025 2:21 PM, Yuras Karmanau, 12335K] reports that Belarusian authorities said Monday they have detained an American man who they said illegally traveled into the tightly controlled country in an empty railway car from neighboring Lithuania. Belarus’ Customs Committee said the 27-year-old, whose identify wasn’t given, was found during an inspection of the train in Maladzyechna, 80 kilometers (49 miles) northwest of the capital, Minsk. A team that inspected the train handed him over to the Border Guards, who didn’t immediately comment. It was not clear when the man was discovered. The Viasna Human Rights Center said the man could face up to two years in prison if found guilty of illegal border crossing. The U.S. State Department has warned Americans against traveling to Belarus, citing "Belarusian authorities’ arbitrary enforcement of local laws and the risk of detention, continued facilitation of Russia’s war against Ukraine, and the heightened volatility and unpredictable nature of the regional security environment.” At the same time, Belarus has introduced a visa-free regime for travelers from 80 countries, including the United States, who arrive by plane and stay for no more than five days. Those who want to spend more time can receive electronic visas.

The Hill [3/31/2025 6:51 PM, Ellen Mitchell, 12829K] reports Putin’s demands on Friday for new leadership in Ukraine prompted Trump to issue a rare rebuke of the Russian leader, threatening sanctions on Russian oil exports if Moscow does not demonstrate more flexibility in talks with Kyiv. "If I think they’re tapping us along, I will not be happy about it," Trump told reporters aboard Air Force One on Sunday, referring to Putin who played golf with Trump on Saturday, said he suggested to the president to lay out April 20, the Easter holiday, as a deadline for Putin to agree to ceasefire terms that Kyiv has already accepted — or face costs. "I do think that the president of the United States is a very skillful negotiator, and he’s trying to find the right balance," Stubb said in an interview with Sky News. Trump told NBC News on Sunday that he expects to speak with Putin this week, adding he was "pissed off" and "angry" over the Russian leader questioning Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky’s legitimacy, because it moved talks in the wrong direction. Trump and Putin last spoke by phone on March 18.

Washington Examiner [3/31/2025 2:45 PM, Timothy Nerozzi, 2296K] reports that Russian President Vladimir Putin has continued to frustrate President Donald Trump’s administration as the Kremlin dodged ending the invasion of Ukraine. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Monday that Putin "remains open to contact with President Trump," but the government is "primarily" focused on generating a friendlier relationship with the United States rather than specifically addressing Ukraine’s fate. "We continue working with the American side, primarily on rebuilding our bilateral relations, which suffered significant damage during the previous administration," Peskov said. Peskov acknowledged that the government is "also working on the implementation of some ideas related to the Ukrainian settlement" but explicitly warned the situation would take considerable time. "This work is underway, but so far, there are no specifics that we could or should tell you about," he said.

Reuters [3/31/2025 6:47 PM, Phil Stewart and Idrees Ali, 24727K] reports the White House has said that U.S. strikes in Yemen earlier this month killed the Houthi top missile expert, but the U.S. military has so far declined to confirm the death, and the identity of the Houthi commander in question is unclear. National Security Advisor Mike Waltz, in public remarks to CBS News the weekend after the March 15 strikes, said the first wave killed "their head missileer.” Waltz also touted the killing in a secret text chat, disclosed publicly by The Atlantic last week, saying: "The first target – their top missile guy – we had positive ID of him walking into his girlfriend’s building and it’s now collapsed.” U.S. officials, speaking on condition of anonymity, have told Reuters that they were unaware of any independent U.S. military confirmation that such a person had been killed. It is unusual for the Pentagon to not confirm a White House announcement about a military operation. Typically, the military publicly reveals details about high-value targets within days of a successful mission. Asked for confirmation that the Houthi top missile expert was killed in a U.S. strike, the White House referred Reuters to the U.S. military. The U.S. military declined repeated requests, made over a week, to confirm the killing or to provide the name of the individual killed. Houthi representatives could not immediately be reached for comment during the Muslim Eid al-Fitr holiday. According to the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, a Washington-based think tank, Abdul Khaliq Badruddin Al-Houthi is the "de-facto commander of the Strategic Missile Forces.” Mohammed Albasha, whose Basha Report risk advisory firm researches open-source information about Yemen, has tallied Houthi reports of more than 40 Houthi fighters killed in action in air strikes in March.

Newsweek [4/1/2025 4:53 AM, Amir Daftari, 52220K] reports Iran "will have no choice" but to seek nuclear weapons if attacked, an adviser to Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has warned. The statement comes in response to U.S. President Donald Trump’s threat to bomb Iran if it does not agree to a new nuclear deal. Newsweek has reached out to the State Department and Iran’s foreign ministry for comment. Rising tensions between Iran and the U.S. have reignited concerns over military conflict. Since taking office, Trump has reinstated his "maximum pressure" campaign, which has led to the reimposition of strict sanctions in order to weaken Iran’s economy and stop its nuclear program. While Tehran has denied seeking nuclear weapons, recent warnings signal a growing risk of escalation. Ali Larijani, a senior adviser to Khamenei, told Iranian state television that Iran does not seek nuclear weapons but could be forced to pursue them if threatened. "We are not moving towards (nuclear) weapons, but if you do something wrong in the Iranian nuclear issue, you will force Iran to move towards that because it has to defend itself," Larijani said. He cautioned that any U.S. or Israeli military action would push Tehran toward reconsidering its nuclear stance. Last week, U.S. Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard, said that Washington does not believe Iran is developing nuclear weapons but noted a weakening taboo in Iran against publicly discussing them. Trump’s remarks over the weekend intensified the standoff. "There will be bombing" if Iran does not agree to a nuclear deal, he told NBC. Trump also threatened to impose "secondary tariffs" on Tehran. Iran’s Supreme Leader dismissed the warnings. "They threaten to do mischief," Khamenei said during a speech on Monday. "If it is carried out, they will definitely receive a strong reciprocal blow.” Last month, Trump said he wrote to Khamenei urging nuclear talks and warning of possible military action. Iran’s foreign minister confirmed that a response was sent back to Washington through Oman. He ruled out direct talks under pressure but hinted at the possibility of indirect negotiations.

Reuters [3/31/2025 2:35 PM, Staff, 41523K] reports that U.S. State Department spokesperson Tammy Bruce said on Monday that a team from the U.S. Agency for International Development was traveling to Myanmar to help identify the most pressing needs in the wake of the earthquake there. U.S. disaster experts, including those based in Bangkok, Manila and Washington are monitoring the situation, she told a news briefing, days after President Donald Trump’s administration told Congress it would cut nearly all remaining jobs at USAID and shut the agency.

Washington Post [3/31/2025 1:06 PM, Rebecca Tan, 31735K] reports that Hours after a 7.7-magnitude earthquake devastated Myanmar on Friday, sending dangerous tremors across Southeast Asia, the American officials charged with responding to the disaster received their termination letters from Washington. Most of the personnel who would have made up a U.S. response team, including security and sanitation experts, were already on indefinite leave. Many of the U.S. programs that would have provided lifesaving materials, including fuel for ambulances and medical kits, were shuttered weeks ago. U.S. planes and helicopters in nearby Thailand, which have been used before for disaster relief, never made it off the ground. America’s response to the catastrophic earthquake has been crippled by the Trump administration’s sweeping cuts to the U.S. Agency for International Development, according to eight current and former USAID employees who worked on Myanmar, as well as former State Department officials and leaders of international aid agencies. Three days after the disaster, American teams have yet to be deployed to the quake zone — a marked contrast with other similar catastrophes, when U.S. personnel were on the ground within hours. The Trump administration has promised $2 million in aid, saying, “The United States stands with the people of Myanmar as they work to recover from the devastation.” But distributing this relief will be more difficult than ever, USAID officials said, because the U.S. has severed valuable ties with local organizations and fired staff who could have restored relationships.

New York Times [4/1/2025 3:26 AM, Tiffany May, 145325K] reports the U.S. fired a new round of sanctions at China on Monday, targeting six high-level Chinese and Hong Kong officials over what it described as acts of transnational repression for their crackdown on pro-democracy activists in Hong Kong and on U.S. soil. The move was the first significant step by the new Trump administration to pressure China over human rights in Hong Kong. The State Department said in a statement that the officials used the city’s national security laws “to intimidate, silence, and harass 19 pro-democracy activists who had been forced to flee overseas, including a U.S. citizen and four other U.S. residents.” The sanctioned officials included Dong Jingwei, China’s top national security official in the city since 2023. In his previous role as China’s vice minister of state security, Mr. Dong led the country’s efforts to track dissidents and catch foreign spies. Hong Kong’s Secretary for Justice Paul Lam and Police Commissioner Raymond Siu were also among the six officials within national security bodies and the police force who were sanctioned for their roles in “coercing, arresting, detaining, or imprisoning” individuals under the national security law. In a national security crackdown since widespread unrest rocked the city in 2019, the Hong Kong authorities have jailed scores of opposition lawmakers, activists and others, including journalists, in the city. The state department also Monday released an annual report saying that the Hong Kong government had continued to use its broad national security laws to undermine human rights and civil liberties in Hong Kong, a criticism other Western countries have also made. It noted that, as recently as December, the Hong Kong government had offered bounties for information leading to the arrests of dissidents living overseas. Hong Kong activists in the United States welcomed the move. “Many of us have endured relentless pressure and threats through transnational repression. It truly means a great deal to see the U.S. taking the lead in holding accountable the officials who orchestrated these actions,” Frances Hui, who was granted political asylum in the U.S., said in a statement on behalf of the Committee for Freedom in Hong Kong Foundation in Washington. Family members of overseas activists including Ms. Hui have been questioned in Hong Kong by its national security police.

Reported similarly:
Bloomberg [3/31/2025 1:00 PM, Iain Marlow, 16228K]
Reuters [3/31/2025 1:44 PM, Michael Martina, 41523K]

Washington Post [4/1/2025 4:11 AM, Christian Shepherd, Vic Chiang and Lyric Li, 31735K] reports that, with warships and a barrage of propaganda, the Chinese military launched large-scale military drills on Tuesday to protest Taiwanese President Lai Ching-te’s increasingly forceful rejection of Beijing’s claim to rule the self-governed island democracy. The exercises involve army, navy, air and rocket forces practicing a coordinated seizure of the sea and airspace around Taiwan, blockading Taiwanese sea lanes and launching attacks against maritime and ground targets, China’s Eastern Theater Command said in a statement. The announcement was accompanied by posters declaring that the Chinese military was “closing in” on “Taiwan separatists” and a series of unusually personal attacks on Lai. In one animation, the democratically elected president of Taiwan was depicted as a poisonous “parasite” trying to hijack Taiwan — until he ultimately met a fiery end. China’s Taiwan Affairs Office called the drills “severe punishment” for Lai’s “rampant provocation” with recent actions that “exposed his ugly side of being anti-peace, anti-exchange, anti-democracy, and anti-humanity.” “It’s not just a drill,” said Huang Chung-ting, an associate research fellow at the Institute for National Defense and Security Research in Taipei, a government-funded think tank. “To be concrete about the threat these Chinese exercises pose to Taiwan, we should call it a pre-invasion operation.” By specifically targeting Taiwan and blaming Lai, Huang said, China is engaging in “cognitive warfare” that is gradually making Taiwanese numb to the real threats they face. The Chinese Communist Party has never ruled Taiwan but calls the island of 23 million its “sacred territory.” The party’s powerful leader, Xi Jinping, calls unification “inevitable” and regularly threatens to take control by force if Taipei refuses to submit. Tensions across the Taiwan Strait have continued to escalate since President Donald Trump entered the White House, as both Beijing and Taipei try to work out whether his “America First” foreign policy means the United States will pull back from protecting Taiwan.

Reuters [4/1/2025 1:24 AM, Yimou Lee and Ben Blanchard, 41523K] reports China could find a "pretext" to stage new war games around Taiwan this year, coinciding with sensitive dates such as the anniversary in May of a year since President Lai Ching-te took office, a senior Taiwan coast guard official said. China, which views democratically-governed Taiwan as its own territory, regularly holds exercises around the island, including one begun on Tuesday it said was to "serve as a stern warning and powerful deterrent against Taiwanese independence". However, China did not give a name to those drills, unlike two war games last year that it dubbed "Joint Sword-2024A", held in May, following Lai’s inauguration, and then "Joint Sword-2024B" in October, after his national day speech. Beijing’s pretext could include "special occasions" such as diplomatic events or incidents related to Taiwan’s sovereignty, Hsieh Ching-chin, the deputy head of its Coast Guard Administration, told a small group of reporters. He added there were two key dates this year around which China could either launch named war games - "Joint Sword-2025" - or what he called "de facto" drills. Apart from the May anniversary, these included October, around the time of Taiwan’s national day when Lai gives a keynote speech, and August, when China ends a routine annual ban on fishing, ostensibly to protect fish stocks, Hsieh said. Neither China’s defence ministry nor Taiwan Affairs Office responded to requests for comment on the likelihood of such war games. A separate source, a senior Taiwan security official, said the assessments were based on past experiences and Chinese actions, adding China this year could seek "excuses" to hype up its "grey zone" pressure on Taiwan on those sensitive dates. Beijing faces a "dilemma", however, in balancing its grey zone aggression on Taiwan while avoiding blowback internationally, the official added. "On one hand they want to exert extreme pressures on Taiwan but on the other hand they must be extremely careful not being labelled as an aggressor internationally.”

Yahoo! News [3/31/2025 7:46 AM, Staff, 52868K] reports the US will set up a "war-fighting headquarters" in Japan to prepare for a possible conflict with China. Pete Hegseth, the US defence secretary, said on Sunday that US troops in Japan would be reorganised to "keep the enemy guessing" and create "strategic dilemmas" for China. He said the upgrade, first announced by the Biden administration, would help US Forces Japan co-ordinate better with local troops, amid fears China might invade Taiwan. "Peace through strength with America in the lead is back," Mr Hegseth said at a joint press conference with Gen Nakatani, his Japanese counterpart, in Tokyo on Sunday. "Japan is our indispensable partner in deterring Communist Chinese military aggression," he said as he opened the event. Pete Hegseth (left), the US defence secretary, with Gen Nakatani, his Japanese counterpart - Kiyoshi Ota/Getty. Mr Hegseth continued: "Soon, we will add additional personnel in Tokyo and at US Forces Japan headquarters to conduct activities that will strengthen our bilateral bonds and deepen our operational co-operation.” "This also means reorganising US Forces Japan into a war-fighting headquarters, increasing its staff and giving its commander the authorities needed to accomplish new missions.” He added: "As I mentioned in our meeting, America and Japan, we seek peace. But as my first platoon motto says: ‘Those who long for peace must prepare for war.’". Japan has been concerned about how US engagement in the region might change under Donald Trump’s "America First" policy, Japanese defence officials said. Mr Trump has threatened to impose trade tariffs on Japan, a key US ally, contributing to concern in Tokyo. The two allies agreed to accelerate plans to jointly develop and produce missiles – such as advanced medium-range air-to-air missiles – and to consider producing SM-6 surface-to-air missiles to help ease a shortage of munitions, Mr Nakatani said. The ministers also agreed to speed up the maintenance of US warships and warplanes in Japan to strengthen and complement Japanese and US defence industries. Japan is home to more than 50,000 US troops. Tokyo and Washington first decided to upgrade their command and control, and that of the Japanese military, which works alongside them, last July. Last week, Tokyo launched the Japan Joint Operations Command to co-ordinate Japanese ground, maritime and air self-defence forces, in a significant move to strengthen capabilities, respond to contingencies and better co-operate with the US. Mr Hegseth and Mr Nakatani also said they agreed on the need to improve Japan’s defence posture in its south western islands, which are in critical locations along disputed areas in the East China Sea and near Taiwan, to further step up deterrence against China. The US defence secretary stressed the need to have "sustaining, robust, ready and credible deterrence" in the Indo-Pacific, including across the Taiwan Strait, as "Japan would be on the front lines of any contingency we might face in the western Pacific".

Newsweek [4/1/2025 4:26 AM, Ryan Chan, 52220K] reports a "high-tech" Chinese government research ship, which is reportedly capable of spying, was tracked sailing off the coast of Australia, a United States ally in the South Pacific Ocean. In Beijing, the Chinese Foreign Ministry claimed that the country conducted what it called "normal activities" at sea in accordance with international law. The Australian Defense Department did not immediately respond to Newsweek’s request for comment via email. The presence of the Chinese research ship comes less than a month after the nation’s navy completed a circumnavigation of Australia. This saw its three-ship task group traveling from the Australian eastern seaboard to the western seaboard via the southern waters. The scientific research vessel, Tan Suo Yi Hao, which means "Discovery One" literally, is viewed as a "spy ship" that has a dual purpose—mixed military and civilian uses—for conducting scientific research and gathering intelligence, Sky News Australia reported. China’s dual-purpose research, which has potential applications for military development, has raised concerns in the U.S. as the geopolitical competition between the two countries intensified. Beijing claimed previously that its scientific research is for peaceful purposes. Using data captured from ship tracking online services, the Tan Suo Yi Hao was tracked leaving the city of Hong Kong, located on China’s southern coast, in early January and heading southward. It arrived in New Zealand in late February, a Newsweek’s map shows. The Chinese vessel, which is specialized in deep-sea exploration, conducted research with New Zealand scientists at the bottom of the Puysegur Trench, located 19,685 feet below sea level and to the south of the country, New Zealand news website Newsroom reported. According to its operator, the state-run Chinese Academy of Sciences’ Institute of Deep-Sea Science and Engineering, the vessel is equipped with 11 laboratories and is the mother ship of two types of submersibles, reaching 14,763 feet and 32,808 feet below sea level, respectively.

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